Mad Banquet Of Golden Feathers
by SlvrSoleAlchmst1
Summary: Tokoyami has seen the girl of his dreams. Dark Shadow refuses to behave until Tokoyami talks to her, but Tokoyami's self-consciousness about his bird features make him hesitate. He's different. Who could want him? With Class 1-A's help, maybe he can land a date... but what's with the innuendo and glitter? And why does Todoroki keep staring at him in that strange way?
1. The Girl With The Canary Head

_**Author Note:** Since I've decided to take a break from my main BNHA fic (The Third One Between, featuring Todoroki/Midoriya/Bakugo) while the anime catches up more to the manga (in order to avoid spoilers for people)… I'll be posting this fic instead – and maybe some other stuff later._

 _Be warned –_ ** _it DOES include some spoilers for the plot that the anime hasn't reached yet._** _(I am writing this as of 17 Aug 2018, for reference.) But the main focus is on humor and a situation I've made up, not Big Important Plot Events. Use your own judgment, I guess?_

 _I'll aim to post a chapter of this per week. Since most of it is already written, I shouldn't fall too behind._

* * *

The first time Tokoyami clapped eyes on her, Dark Shadow poked his beak out unbidden and whistled suggestively. The act left Tokoyami in an awkward position indeed.

Of course Dark Shadow retreated afterward to hide, making it look like Tokoyami had been the person whistling. Tokoyami halted short on the street — which probably just ended up making him look twice as guilty.

But the most noteworthy thing was what proceeded in the moment after the whistle. The beautiful girl with the marble-black eyes, dainty beak, and yellow canary feathers whistled a song back at him.

A sweet, melodious string of sounds.

If Tokoyami could have blushed — like the people who _didn't_ have animal-head Quirks — he would have. Instead, he continued to stand there while the canary girl let out another _cheep l_ ike a giggle. Then she continued on her way, the pleats in her skirt bouncing and swaying to the beat of her bubbly stroll.

When she disappeared around the corner, Tokoyami's heartbeat didn't slow. Even so, he spoke under his breath to his eternal companion of the dark. "Did you have to do that? How dare you."

He heard and felt the rumble in his midriff that meant Dark Shadow was laughing. Dark Shadow exposed his head, looking up from Tokoyami's midriff. "But you were thinking she was pretty also."

"That hardly gives you the right to catcall her out on the street."

" _She tweeted back."_ Dark Shadow paused. _"It was a bird call. We aren't cats."_

"It wasn't a Tweet," Tokoyami replied. He wanted to be difficult — by misinterpreting his sentient Quirk's meaning, and proving that no matter what, he'd keep flipping the tables back.

He sensed Dark Shadow scowl. It always bothered Dark Shadow that he couldn't Tweet, or text, or send email like Tokoyami could. Dark Shadow could do many things, but his power was not designed for the human frivolity of social media — a point upon which Dark Shadow complained whenever the chance came to him. Without an online profile, Dark Shadow insisted, how was anyone supposed to take him seriously as a sentient being?

That was when Tokoyami usually banished Dark Shadow back inside himself. He did so now as well, vindictively — by choosing the route home that involved the most rays and beams of morning sunlight. As they neared the UA campus, Dark Shadow whimpered inside him.

"Serves you right," Tokoyami whispered. But his heart wasn't quite in it.

He resolved to treat Dark Shadow to a jaunt in the forest blackness that evening. They would forgive each other, certainly. They needed each other, after all. And it wasn't like Dark Shadow acted out in ways that shocked or inconvenienced Tokoyami often. Or at all.

In fact, Dark Shadow _rarely_ did. And when he did, it was usually an accident. Which was probably why the incident with the pretty canary girl startled Tokoyami. Put simply, Tokoyami had experienced an anomaly in his Quirk's behavior... and he had no explanation for it.

He entered the doors of the main building. The shopping bag of items he'd procured bumped persistently against his leg. Because of the longer route he'd chosen back to school, he wouldn't get to drop off his purchase in his dorm room until later, now.

After the door to his homeroom slid open, Tokoyami made his way in amongst the general chatter. He slid into his seat unnoticed. He put down his book bag, his shopping bag, and frowned as he began thinking.

Why had Dark Shadow acted out?

"Tokoyami," said a low, soft voice from the seat behind him.

Tokoyami tensed at the level of care and inquiry evident in the tone. It wasn't the sound of the usual acknowledgement shared between himself and Todoroki Shoto. Did Todoroki notice that Tokoyami had arrived later than usual?

"Todoroki," was all Tokoyami replied, nodding his head without turning around.

He returned his mind to the girl with the golden-yellow feathers he had seen. That was when he felt a tingle somewhere around his middle... and Kaminari Denki stopped the storytelling he'd been doing mid-sentence. A grunt of surprise sounded from someone else as well... and Tokoyami turned to find Dark Shadow had come out again.

Again, without his permission.

Dark Shadow leaned across Todoroki's desk.

Tokoyami watched, astonished. Todoroki sat back as far as his chair allowed, appearing pinned and wary. "Yes?"

" _Ask him,"_ Dark Shadow insisted to Todoroki, _"what he's preoccupied about. He is very preoccupied... and I'm hardly able to stand it. Somebody has to do something."_

Tokoyami's temper flared — but he also felt a stab of fear. He knew that his negative emotions were what resulted in his inability to control his Quirk... but he hadn't thought he'd been feeling anything negative this morning.

So... what? If this didn't feel like the usual struggle over his dark feelings when they crept up on him, then this was an anomaly, still. This was Dark Shadow acting out, not Tokoyami losing his control. Had his Quirk gained strength or morphed somehow, and begun to exhibit more autonomy?

"Dark Shadow," Tokoyami growled.

The sound of the scolding cut like a knife. The 1-A class quieted completely. Even the students farthest away from Tokoyami turned, caught sight of his Quirk — how it hovered just in front of Todoroki — and froze, as if anticipating what on earth would happen next.

Tokoyami closed his eyes, seeking a hold of his temper. If he _did_ start feeling negatively right now, it would only exacerbate the situation.

Honestly. Had seeing a pretty girl with a Quirk similar to his own really prompted behavior like this in Dark Shadow? What on earth?

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed Todoroki's gaze flickering toward him. It felt like Todoroki wished to check in before he answered Dark Shadow.

Calmly, Tokoyami said, "Light up the flames on your left hand."

Dark Shadow let out a wail. Tears appeared at the corners of his glowing eyes. _"Don't! That really isn't fair! I'm just trying to problem-solve."_

"Then have some manners," Tokoyami replied, while Todoroki looked at Dark Shadow, looked at him, looked at Dark Shadow again, and then said succinctly, "I can't."

Todoroki couldn't light his left hand?

A barking laugh sounded from toward the classroom's front. Bakugo Katsuki interrupted them. "That half-and-half bastard still isn't good enough with his flames to oblige you, Crow Face! If you need _light_ to put that thing away—" both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow glared at Bakugo sharply. "—then just let me EXPLODE shit, hah?!"

Before Tokoyami could answer, a cry came from behind Bakugo. "K-Kacchan!"

Midoriya Izuku squirmed. Then he attempted to whisper behind his hand. "Dark Shadow isn't a 'thing!'" he impressed. "C-calling him that is— well, it's—"

"AaAAH?"

Tokoyami blinked. They were at it again? Soon Bakugo would begin slinging more insults.

Somewhere in the background of the argument between the childhood friends, Tokoyami heard Todoroki mutter underneath his breath. "It's not because I can't do it... it's that I won't. I like and respect Tokoyami's Quirk and don't really want to hurt it. He doesn't seem out of control right now..."

Dark Shadow wailed, which made everybody fall silent again. _"Right, right, yes! What he is muttering is true! He's on my side. He understands!"_ But then, still in apparent turmoil, Dark Shadow reared up, expanded, and filled the classroom with shadow-dark to the ceiling, blotting out the lights.

As the room became cloaked in dimness, Iida Tenya seemed to recall his duty to keep class order. He stood up from his seat at once.

"Tokoyami-kun," Iida said, shoving his glasses up his nose, working his arms like robot limbs, "I will have to ask you to put your Quirk away while we're in the classroom! However, if you are having a problem doing so for some reason, then of course—"

"Of course we'll help you. Won't we?" Yaoyorozu Momo spoke from her seat next to Todoroki. She eyed the class president, who nodded back dramatically.

Todoroki passed a glance over Yaoyorozu too, and then seemed to sit, reflecting — never mind that Dark Shadow still overtook most of his desk.

It was too much. The whole class focused on Tokoyami's problem controlling Dark Shadow. Tokoyami sat in his chair, stiff-backed, glaring at his sentient Quirk. Dark Shadow simply cowered back at him, looking somewhat hurt, and unaware of why Tokoyami felt so angry and embarrassed. Then Todoroki's gaze caught his again.

As if Todoroki could read his discomfort, Todoroki's mismatched eyes softened. He uttered bluntly, "Sorry."

Tokoyami sighed — and as he did, Dark Shadow relaxed also. The Quirk shrank back to a manageable size, hovered beside Tokoyami, sniffed, and whimpered.

Tokoyami reached up and patted his Quirk on the beak. Dark Shadow sniffed one more time and nuzzled into the comforting touch.

"Does he normally show affection to his Quirk like that?" asked Kirishima Eijiro, in a voice that clearly wasn't meant to carry.

Tokoyami rolled his eyes and murmured soft nothings to Dark Shadow. It was possible his Quirk needed understanding right now — regardless of Tokoyami's embarrassment — if he was ever to calm down. Tokoyami had to do what he could; Dark Shadow was his responsibility... even if this situation rankled.

"It's kinda manly that he isn't afraid to do that," Kirishima said, louder. "So boss, Tokoyami, so boss!" The statement came with an emotional sob and an emphatic, clenching fist.

But Tokoyami was too busy remaining acutely aware of Yaoyorozu to reply to Kirishima's words.

Yaoyorozu had extended her hand. Dark Shadow contemplated it, edging a little toward it and away from Tokoyami's pets.

"What's the matter, Dark Shadow?" Yaoyorozu asked. "Can we help you? Was there something bothering you or Tokoyami-san that you wanted to talk about?"

Todoroki cast her another glance, something approving and grateful. He nodded, then said to Dark Shadow as well, "We want to try to help you."

Slowly, Dark Shadow floated over to Yaoyorozu's open palm. He laid his beak into her hand — and let her start stroking his head.

"That is precious, Momo-chan— kero." Asui Tsuyu scooted her chair closer, then tilted her face to get a better look at the spectacle. Her tongue hung from between her lips.

Tokoyami couldn't take this. He fidgeted and felt like he blushed again. But it did seem that somehow, Yaoyorozu was calming his Quirk.

Dark Shadow sighed a contented sigh while Yaoyorozu kept on petting him. _"There was a girl,"_ he stated mournfully.

Todoroki's eyes shot wide. "A girl?"

Tokoyami groaned softly. Was making it public knowledge really the only way to calm down Dark Shadow? What did it say about _him_ , that his sentient Quirk couldn't focus after catching a glimpse of a pretty female?

But she had tweeted so prettily at them, Tokoyami reminded himself. Maybe he couldn't quite blame Dark Shadow.

He heated up and shook his head in his attempt to clear his thoughts. Since when was his mind so one-track? Was Dark Shadow affecting him?

Bright, beady eyes that glistened. Groomed feathers as yellow as the golden sun.

"What kind of a girl?" Yaoyorozu asked, at the same time Bakugo could be heard grumbling, "For fuck's sake, it's _this_ kind of shit?"

" _A pretty girl,"_ Dark Shadow said. _"The prettiest girl we've ever seen. And Fumikage just let her walk away. After she chirped at him so nicely, too!"_

Tokoyami did not want anyone to get the wrong idea. "You're leaving out the part," he gritted, "where you inappropriately dared to whistle-catcall her first, to get her attention. And the part where we'd never even seen her before. She was a complete stranger, Dark Shadow!" Of course Tokoyami wasn't going to attempt to engage her!

Yaoyorozu blinked, exchanging a glance with Todoroki. Todoroki only shrugged. But both of them looked some mixture of astonished... and uncomfortable.

If the two who had gotten into UA on recommendations weren't sure how to react, however, Ashido Mina was different.

Ashido shot up and out of her chair, wriggling and sing-songing her reply. "Oooooh," she called out, "Ooh, Tokoyami-kun is in LOVE! I would say it's about time!"

Tokoyami stood as well. The movement startled Dark Shadow. "Enough," he said. His voice rumbled. There was no reason the whole classroom needed to voice their opinions. They misunderstood, anyway. "I don't—"

The classroom door banged open.

Aizawa slowly shuffled in, causing another long stretch of silence. Then the teacher stopped, seeing the state of the classroom, his hand poised where it had been about to brush the bangs from his vision. He said, "Class 1-A continues to have unexpected behavioral issues. I should get Midnight to make you all sleep until homeroom time is over."

Iida bowed frantically, multiple times. "I am so sorry! So sorry! I take responsibility!"

For a moment, Tokoyami wondered if he would have his Quirk erased as Aizawa restored order. He and Dark Shadow exchanged worried looks, their frustration with each other moving to a temporary hold.

Getting erased made Dark Shadow incredibly uncomfortable. So far Aizawa — Eraser Head —had done it to him twice, while looking at multiple students at once and catching Dark Shadow in the crossfire as discipline got doled out. Tokoyami's fingers twitched. Whenever Dark Shadow came back after Eraser Head stopped erasing him, Dark Shadow said it felt like he had _died_.

Like he had ceased existing, Dark Shadow said. And then was born again when he came back, always disoriented at first. He couldn't remember his time spent erased, as if he'd had no consciousness. He said it felt terrifying.

Dark Shadow was sentient, but he was a only a Quirk, after all — and had no body other than shifting shadow. It made sense that when he was temporarily erased, nothing of him would be left until Tokoyami's Quirk got returned.

That was why Tokoyami worried now. For as uncomfortable as Dark Shadow was making him at present, Tokoyami didn't think his Quirk deserved erasure again — even if Dark Shadow would of course come back eventually. So, feeling defeated, and unaccustomed to being the source of discord in the classroom, Tokoyami plopped back into his seat. He hoped the move would be enough to prove he didn't mean to cause a disturbance.

Luckily, all Aizawa did was shuffle toward the podium. "Who wants to enlighten me about what's going on this time?"

Ashido cleared her throat. Her voice strengthened the more she spoke. "Dark... Dark Shadow told us that Tokoyami-kun has met a girl! And that she was pretty. It's a love story developing, a love story, I tell you! And we have to help him — to make sure it has a happy ending."

"I don't need help," Tokoyami protested. His teeth clenched hard in his beak.

A perverted mutter came from the direction of Mineta Minoru. "But don't you want a _happy ending?_ Aah — what kind of man are you? If it were me... if it were me—"

"What was she like?" Ashido asked loudly — while Sero Hanta slapped a piece of tape over Mineta's mouth when Aizawa couldn't see.

Their teacher was sighing now, scratching the back of his head with one hand. Although it seemed nobody was listening, Tokoyami heard the man's response. "What do I have to threaten this time to make all of you settle down? Tokoyami. Put Dark Shadow away and stop distracting everyone, or you're going to be expelled."

Dark Shadow let out a yelp. He shrank to the size of a pixie and hovered at Tokoyami's shoulder. But he didn't retreat back to where he belonged. He appeared to be as determined as he was cowed by the teacher's threat.

Yaoyorozu spoke again — hurriedly, in Tokoyami's defense. Had she seen Tokoyami twitch? "Sensei — it seems that Tokoyami-san won't be able to resolve Dark Shadow's interference until we address his distress. Possibly..." A sound began to leak into her explanation, and she faltered. "Possibly, he..." The sound increased.

At the far side of the classroom, Midoriya's muttering made itself further known, traveling the distance of the room like a chill breeze. The sound made Tokoyami stare.

Uraraka Ochako laughed nervously. "D-Deku-kun? You're—"

"Shut _up,_ shitty Deku," Bakugo snarled. He turned around and landed Midoriya's desk a violent kick.

"Bakugo," Aizawa said wearily.

Midoriya barely reacted. With his face incredibly close to a notebook he'd pulled out, he announced to everyone, "I think Yaoyorozu-san is right. Based on my previous observations about Dark Shadow and his personality, and how he affects Tokoyami-kun due to their symbiotic, emotional connection... W-well." Tokoyami bristled when Midoriya shot him a shy look of apology. "I _also_ think Dark Shadow will persist in remaining out until we address his concerns, and solve the problem about the pretty girl. Wh-whatever the problem is. Do you not like pretty girls, Tokoyami-kun?"

A beat passed, in which every stare in the classroom turned onto Midoriya instead of Tokoyami.

"Oh, man," said Ojiro Mashirao, hiding his face in the fluff of his tail.

" _Dude,_ " Kirishima said, looking aghast.

"What?" cried Midoriya. He waved both hands in front of his face. "That wouldn't be so wrong, would it? Tokoyami-kun can like whoever he wants! S-so can any of us... A-and if the problem is that he saw a girl, and Dark Shadow liked her, but Tokoyami-kun _didn't_...? I mean, isn't that, couldn't that be conflict? Couldn't that be as good a guess as any other—?"

Tokoyami thunked his elbows on his desk, tuning out the rest of the explanation. He buried his face feathers in his hands.

How could it devolve like this? Was that what All Might's favorite thought of him? That he didn't like women? Did he give off that kind of vibe?

A sonorous voice cut into the horror and despair in Tokoyami's head. "Either way, you probably shouldn't say things that risk 'outing' your classmate like that..."

It was Aoyama Yuga. Tokoyami looked up... and thought he saw Aoyama twinkle as a wink got delivered in his direction.

Tokoyami merely stared. Did he... put off a vibe like _that?_

Midoriya flushed. "I-I didn't—"

"Sensei," Bakugo growled. The muscles in his back flexed dangerously as he leaned forward and clutched his desk like he'd break it into matchsticks. "I wanna _kill_ him — so for once, let me, aaAhH?" The size and manner of Bakugo's grin and the tilt of his narrowed eyes appeared lethal.

"Down, boy," Kirishima whispered — although Bakugo probably couldn't hear him. Kirishima's fingers tightened on _his_ desk.

Tokoyami had never felt this embarrassed in his life. Imagine causing his whole class to dissolve into such conflict.

His shoulders must have tensed again, because behind him, Todoroki murmured in that comforting, sympathetic voice, "Tokoyami... hang in there."

Tokoyami tried to calm himself enough that the feathers atop the crown of his head wouldn't bristle and stick up. Then he said, as quietly as he could manage, "Dark Shadow, can't we address this later?"

" _No. No, we really cannot."_

Tokoyami twitched again.

Babyish, unrelenting, selfish, embarrassing sentient Quirk. Damn him.

And yet his heart ached for Dark Shadow. Something was very clearly wrong. It _felt_ wrong inside of him, having Dark Shadow riled up. It felt like Tokoyami's stomach churned and buzzed. And Tokoyami suspected it wouldn't stop until Dark Shadow got whatever he needed.

But Tokoyami sincerely hoped it wasn't that Dark Shadow needed or wanted the canary girl in... in an _inappropriate_ sense. Did his Quirk even have the ability to feel that kind of desire? If he did... that might be bad. Tokoyami strove endlessly to keep Dark Shadow manageable, in check in terms of his violence levels... but never once had Tokoyami considered he might have to control Dark Shadow's sexual or romantic desires. Was Tokoyami weak for overlooking it?

And if Dark Shadow liked the girl... what did that mean Tokoyami felt? Midoriya wasn't wrong that he and his Quirk were emotionally connected.

Dark Shadow raised himself tall, as if wanting to look righteous. Did Dark Shadow think he was putting up this fuss for Tokoyami's sake, somehow?

"So it's a disturbance about a girl causing Dark Shadow to assert his presence?" Aizawa's sharp eyes bounced between Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and Tokoyami in his assessment of the theories that had been presented. He yawned afterward, and then shrugged and ruffled his hair. "Well, I didn't have anything planned for this homeroom, besides another lecture to push you all in your training..." The rustle of fabric sounded. A familiar yellow sleeping bag rose out from behind the podium, and Aizawa stepped into it. "You can all resolve this on your own. I wouldn't be very useful talking about romantic teenage urges. Wake me when the bell rings if I don't just get up on my own."

Tokoyami blinked rapidly. No. No, this could not be happening. What was this irresponsible escape? Wasn't the teacher supposed to call order to the class and take the pressure off his tortured student?

But the sleeping bag zipper zipped, Aizawa lied down like a caterpillar, and the free-for-all explosion of excitement in the room began.

Tokoyami wished he could disappear. Or grow the wings his head suggested he should have, and just fly himself out of here. To the torrent of questions that followed, he again buried his ruffled feathers in his arms, trying to take solace in the darkness there.

When the questions and suggestions didn't stop, he bellowed, "I am not going to talk about it! Leave Dark Shadow and me alone!"

* * *

Class 1-A trained through a hard day. But although Tokoyami's body wasn't as tired as he could remember feeling during incidents with Villains... he felt more _mentally_ dogged than ever.

Maybe it was from the stares. And the whispers. And the teasing.

Dark Shadow whimpered over his shoulder as they trekked back to the dorms — alone.

"It's your own fault if you're tired too," Tokoyami said to him. Then he walked even more slowly, despite that he'd already delayed and let everyone go ahead a quarter hour ago.

He didn't have the energy to talk to people any more if he were to run into them. Even speaking to Dark Shadow seemed difficult.

He carried his book bag and his shopping bag like they were emotional bricks. Even though it was evening now, and the light had started to fade into the darkness he and Dark Shadow enjoyed, they both were exhausted from their feelings.

And all because of one girl.

" _I couldn't help but be distressed,"_ Dark Shadow whined, oblivious to Tokoyami's mood and his desire not to talk. _"And I'm very sorry I won't go away. But I really want to find that girl again."_

'Find,' Dark Shadow said, as in, 'seek out.' Would this turn into a goose chase of some kind?

Tokoyami grunted. "Why?"

" _I want us to talk to her. And if I stay out, then maybe I'll see her. You want to see her too, don't you? And two sets of eyes are better than one when it comes to looking for a person."_

Tokoyami walked into the dorm building, his heart heavy in his chest. Dark Shadow had a way of cutting to the chase, of saying clearly whatever Tokoyami tried to keep locked inside him. He considered responding curtly, telling Dark Shadow he wasn't correct.

But that would have been a lie. As simple as it was, as ludicrous under the circumstances, Dark Shadow wasn't wrong at all. Although it had been a chance meeting, lasting only a few moments... Tokoyami had felt caught by the instant of fate he had experienced. He had never seen a girl like that before — not in person, anyway. Someone with a bird head like him. And with such wonderful feathers of gold.

He didn't know a single thing about her. And yet he wanted, very terribly, to be able to see her again.

He felt he ought to ask himself the question he had asked Dark Shadow, then. _Why?_

Did Tokoyami hope to relate to her? Suppose that he could ask her name? Her age? Suppose they could be friends? Suppose they could be more than that? Suppose they could talk about what it was like to be... to be...

To be different.

Tokoyami was considered different — even in a society where eighty percent of the population was 'different' compared to the humans of generations before, because of the existence now of Quirks. Tokoyami didn't look quite human, because of a bodily change that gifted him with animal traits. He was _extra_ different, even in their world of wild abilities.

Being extra different, however, had never ended up in extra trouble for Tokoyami. He had never been bullied for having feathers where other people possessed skin. Perhaps other students and peers had been too afraid of Tokoyami's Quirk to harass him. Or maybe they didn't _care_ about his looks. Maybe people were jaded and unfazed by now, accustomed to a society full of odd sights thanks to Quirk powers. No one had ever suggested that Tokoyami's beak and feathers kept him from being appealing.

But.

No one had ever wanted to get closer to Tokoyami than 'classmates' or 'acquaintances.' That was a simple, undeniable fact. Never mind intimacy; Tokoyami couldn't even say he'd had someone that counted as a friend — unless maybe he counted Dark Shadow. What could he do, except read into that? Had Tokoyami been doing something wrong, or was it really his bird's head?

He even read into his family's habits. His mother had never once asked Tokoyami for a goodnight kiss. Not even when he was young and had the softer, fluffier features of a baby bird. Was that because she knew he had a beak, and couldn't pucker up his lips? Had she not wanted to draw attention to that fact, in case Tokoyami was already self-conscious about it? His mother had lips... but his father didn't. His father also possessed a bird's head. Clearly his mother loved his father, but...

He'd always been afraid to ask, but Tokoyami often wondered. Did the reality of having a beak ever cause discourse between his parents? How _was_ somebody with a beak supposed to return, say, a kiss? For that matter, how were two people _both_ with beaks supposed to become intimate?

Holding hands might work, or other methods. But everybody _else_ could kiss. It seemed so unfair to be robbed of that.

" _Depressing, so depressing. Stop,"_ Dark Shadow pleaded with him.

"Then stop trying to read my thoughts."

" _I'm not. You're emanating them."_

The dorm common room was empty. The others were probably changing out of their uniforms in their rooms, showering, doing homework, and preparing for dinner hour. Tokoyami looked at the empty space, wondering how much was empty in him, too.

Dark Shadow often accused him of keeping people at a distance on purpose. But why would Tokoyami do that? Was it because he simply wanted to focus foremost on improving his Quirk and becoming a pro Hero? Or was it because, even if no one else ever said a word to him about it... he felt insecure and shy about appearing extra different? Did Tokoyami think if he cut people off, it would help him resent his feathers and his beak less? If Tokoyami stayed alone, he wouldn't have to confront, again and again, the normalcy he was lacking by comparing himself to other people.

Was he stuck on the canary girl because if he got close to her, they could be different together, and he also would never have to address his differences, or feel insecure about himself?

Even if he _did_ admit he wanted to see the canary girl again, Tokoyami didn't know how he could. He didn't know what school she attended. He hadn't been able to identify the pattern on her skirt — which meant that she probably didn't attend any of the local schools, never mind a Hero school he would have known by its uniform at once. It was unlikely he'd find her again, even if he and Dark Shadow both searched.

Even if he did find her, what on earth would she _think_ of him? Tokoyami didn't only have a crow's head. He had a sentient creature with a unique personality living in him. That personality loved darkness. Tokoyami loved the night and darkness, too. He was the _prince_ of darkness, the Jet-Black Hero, Tsukuyomi. The golden canary girl was light itself.

"I'm too tarnished for her; my soul is too black..." Tokoyami put his face in his hand, frozen in the middle of the common room.

Dark Shadow only snorted.

Every now and then, Tokoyami resented Dark Shadow for being part of him as much as he resented his bird's head. But since Dark Shadow was, in the end, his protection and his closest companion, he never let Dark Shadow know.

There was no sense in making Dark Shadow feel bad about something he couldn't control. Dark Shadow had never asked to manifest when Tokoyami had turned four.

But Tokoyami worried sometimes that Dark Shadow could feel it. Feel Tokoyami wondering what it would be like _not_ to have to share himself with a second consciousness that did things like whistle at total strangers.

" _We're lonely and angry, aren't we,"_ Dark Shadow asked. His forlorn tone suggested he already knew the answer for himself. _"Lonely and very different. That makes it hard to land a date, I guess. Do you think we're going to be alone forever?"_

"We don't need companionship," Tokoyami said.

Maybe if he said it enough times, soon he would start to believe it. Maybe it wasn't even such a stretch. In the end, they had the companionship found at what Tokoyami referred to as the mad banquet of darkness. They had the crypts, the caves, the bats, the rats, whatever beings lurked where the light didn't go. Many, many guests of the night and darkness. When Dark Shadow behaved himself, tremendous Quirk power was their companion, too. They had the rush that came from it.

" _Do you really think we don't need it?"_

It wasn't often Tokoyami spoke to Dark Shadow about the topic of their non-existent social life so bluntly. Usually they talked tactics and Quirk powers. But if he left the matter of the canary girl and his feelings unaddressed... Well, then it would be likely he'd prove Yaoyorozu and Midoriya correct. Dark Shadow wouldn't retreat until the issue was solved. Then classes and training would get difficult, because Dark Shadow's extended time outside would wear both of their strengths away. Having Dark Shadow out this long, and privy to his every _action_ as well as his innermost thoughts... Tokoyami was reaching his limits.

He didn't know _how_ to solve his problem. But he had to try something, anything — to assuage Dark Shadow's distress.

"Try not to get hung up on it."

Tokoyami passed the elevators and prepared to take the stairs up to the second floor. Once in his room, he knew he would feel better. His room teemed with soothing black lights and darkness.

"We don't need anyone. We don't need pretty girls." Tokoyami thought about what Midoriya had said.. and what Midoriya had implied about him. He considered. "Or boys," he added. "All we need is—"

" _Revelry in the dark?"_ Dark Shadow asked. He sighed it out as if bored. As if he were sick of hearing it.

"Yes. That," Tokoyami said.

Dark Shadow understood. Somewhat.

The sentient Quirk sighed again.

Apparently Dark Shadow _didn't_ understand Tokoyami's desire to distance himself from this topic now that he had said a couple words, and end the conversation at this time... at least until after dinner. Being privy to most of Tokoyami's thoughts and emotions didn't necessarily mean Dark Shadow always _understood_ everything in Tokoyami's heart.

That bare minimum privacy was probably what kept Tokoyami sane.

Upon opening the stairwell door, Tokoyami encountered resistance. For a moment, it felt as if he'd grabbed the knob and tried to turn it at the same time somebody tried to do so from the opposite side. But when the door opened, nobody was there.

Dark Shadow quirked his head, but Tokoyami attempted to pass through and mount the stairs. As he passed, however, a gasp sounded.

And then he felt his shoulder brush against two... two softish mounds that seemed to bounce.

He didn't realize he had come against Hakagure Toru — very naked — until her scream echoed up the stairwell and probably beyond, to outer space.

"K-k-kyaaaaaaAAAAHHH!"

* * *

They sat in the empty common room — Tokoyami and Hakagure. Hakagure wore Tokoyami's uniform jacket. She squirmed on the couch, seeming incredibly uncomfortable.

Dark Shadow kept blinking and staring. He didn't know how to react.

Tokoyami did. He cleared his throat. For the third time, he uttered, "I'm sorry."

"Aaah, gosh!" Hakagure yelped. "And I was just trying to sneak to dinner a little early!"

The sight of animated clothing with no human body visible beneath it was something Tokoyami still did not feel used to. He had no idea what sort of posture Hakagure sat in on the couch. He wondered if staring was rude... considering that there was nothing to see. Or why she'd felt the need to demand his jacket from him in recompense at all.

This was the first time he had ever talked much with Hakagure.

"I suppose," he said, "that even if the cafeteria isn't open yet, you could take some food out from under Lunch Rush's nose. That was your plan?"

"That's right! Then I get extra servings. Because I'm Invisible Girl!" Tokoyami's jacket wriggled again.

He wondered if he should make his excuse now. Say that he didn't want dinner until the official time... and perhaps warn Hakagure that it wasn't good to steal food. All he wanted was to go to his room and steep in the dark, while everyone else worked on their homework.

But Hakagure broached a conversation. "Tokoyami-kun — have you made any headway yet on your struggles with Dark Shadow and the pretty girl you saw today? Do you think you might let some of us help you?" The sleeves of Tokoyami's jacket rose into the air as she gestured.

"Help? How?" Tokoyami scowled. Hadn't he decided that he wanted to be left alone?

"We could help you find the girl! We could set up a date for you!"

"I really don't think that would—"

"We could give you a _makeover_."

Tokoyami clicked his beak closed. Dark Shadow quirked his head again, but since he still sagged from being tired, he didn't reply anything. That left Tokoyami there to flounder out his own response. He hoped that he could make it eloquent, polite, and then end their conversation.

He stared at where Hakugure's head must be. "What?"

Hakagure giggled. "A makeover! Have you ever tried one? I could do it, and get the others to help. If we give you a new image and make you irresistible, then it might become easier to find the pretty girl you ran into. Maybe she would come flying right toward you, like a magical magnet to your new appeal!"

Many thoughts whirled in Tokoyami's head. So there _was_ something wrong with how he looked that needed to be compensated for or otherwise dealt with. Unless he had a makeover, Hakagure didn't think that he was appealing enough to win a girl over. But was it his beak or his feathers? His clothes? Maybe everything. What exactly would her makeover consist of? And how on earth did an invisible girl know anything about what to wear, especially face or hair products?

He shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "Hakagure-san," he said. "Since you yourself don't have an image, I'm not sure I'm comfortable letting you become an expert on mine."

"Nonsense!" Tokoyami's jacket sprung up, with one arm launched into the air. Tokoyami only stared. "I may be an invisible girl, but because I am, I understand how important it is to convey personality and expression through clothing and cosmetics! Those things... they have serious meaning!"

"C-cosmetics?"

Hakagure made Tokoyami nervous. He didn't see how someone without skin on his face could possibly wear cosmetics.

"Mm, mm!" Hakagure gave off the sense that she vigorously nodded. Her arms were pulled tight to her sides like she lined up in a row of soldiers and prepared for battle, now. "I could do it, I'm telling you. One time, I even put make-up on myself and lots of temporary dye in my hair — to see if I could see myself. And it was really, really fun! Until it started to rub off, I started to get an idea of what I actually looked like. Although, what I want to know most sometimes is what my eye color and hair color is like... My mother says that when I was a baby, my eyes and hair were light colored, but a lot of babies are supposed to have pale eyes at first especially, right? And then sometimes they change? Since I turned invisible really young, I don't have a clue what I look like as an older student! But at least I can highlight the shape of my cheekbones and my jawline. So yes — I can help you!"

Her delivery remained energetic. But as she finished her explanation, Tokoyami felt his vision of Hakagure Toru change.

Hakagure hadn't seen herself since she was just a tiny tot — _before_ her Quirk had manifested. She probably couldn't remember what she'd seen of herself in the mirror so young. Were there any pictures? If she saw them, would it feel like she looked at a stranger instead of herself? She could touch her face and limbs to feel herself, measure, and make guesses, but she would never know things like how many freckles she might have, or where, or if her eyes turned bloodshot when she got tired, or if her blushing face looked like a sakura petal or more like a red maraschino cherry.

Tokoyami sat here so absorbed by what _he_ looked like... and so did a lot of other teenagers. After all, that was the age they were at. So much of relationships were based on visual appeal, and looks mattered... and yet Hakagure had none of that.

Also, to be a pro Hero and use her invisibility to its utmost, it served no purpose to hint at or enhance her shape or features too much with makeup or hair dye that couldn't wipe off quickly in a fight with Villains. In short, Hakagure lacked important knowledge of her own body, but didn't have the luxury to spend time discovering it or otherwise combating the Quirk that made her so different if she wanted to succeed as a Hero.

But all that... all that didn't change her cheery, gung-ho attitude.

Tokoyami had it much better than her — at least he was _visible_ — yet here he was, a ball of doom and gloom because of his feathers.

Dark Shadow seemed to realize the same thing. He whispered to Tokoyami, _"I think that we could learn how to accept ourselves better from her."_

Did that mean Tokoyami should agree to have a makeover?

"So? So?" Hakagure asked, oblivious to his realizations. "What do you think? Is it a plan?"

Tokoyami looked down at the shopping bag he'd set beside his feet. That morning, he'd stopped at the corner store to pick up more feather shampoo, and a small pair of scissors that had blades a little sharper than the pair that he used currently — for trimming the tougher, overgrown feathers. It wasn't like taking care of his looks was a foreign idea to him. Even though he often disliked his bird head, he didn't fall so far as to let his self-care get out of hand.

But what was extra self care like — especially if it came from someone like Hakagure?

And if he did end up looking better, and then came across the canary girl...?

The door to the stairwell opened. Out came Uraraka Ochako and Asui Tsuyu, side by side.

"Tokoyami-kun!" Uraraka smiled, cutting off her conversation to greet him. "Are you on your way to dinner? I'm so glad that you came down! Class was hard for you today, huh? But what are you doing alone?"

Asui peered around the back of the couch toward Tokoyami's floating jacket. "Kero — Toru-chan is here with him right now, Ochako-chan. Look."

Uraraka scratched the back of her head. "Aah, sorry about that, Hakagure-san! Say, do you all want to get dinner together?"

Tokoyami hardly listened to them talk. He kept his hands fisted atop his knees and stared at them, contemplating.

To have a makeover, or not?

"Yes, dinner together!" Hakagure said gleefully. "But then, but then, guess what? Guess what? We're all going to give Tokoyami-kun a makeover!"

Dark Shadow looked back and forth uncertainty between the trio of girls and his master.

Asui brought a finger to her mouth. "Has Tokoyami-kun agreed to it, though? I know how you are sometimes, Toru-chan... It wouldn't be good to pressure anyone."

" _He's feeling conflicted,"_ Dark Shadow said. _"But it would seem he hasn't yet refused."_

The door to the stairwell popped open again. This time, Jiro Kyoka and Ashido Mina wandered out.

"Oh," said Jiro, stopping in her tracks. "Everybody is here right now." She took a moment to assess the expressions on everybody's faces... except for Hakagure's invisible one. "What exactly is going on? Why is everyone still not at dinner?"

Uraraka laughed nervously. "We were... um. I guess we've been getting recruited to help give Tokoyami-kun a makeover.

"So that he can impress his pretty girl!"

Ashido gaped at Hakagure a moment, then whooped at the top of her lungs. "YAAAASS!"

Tokoyami's hands tightened.

"Fumikage-chan," Asui said to him, ignoring the excitement all around her. "Is that going to be okay? You know, kero... you don't have to."

Dark Shadow hunched just over his shoulder. Tokoyami took a breath.

Then he looked up. "No, it's okay. I'm not opposed to trying once. Please do your best, all of you, to change my image into something better."


	2. Tokoyami's Makeover

Tokoyami was already thinking it, so he didn't scold Dark Shadow when Dark Shadow snapped his beak at the way Ashido elbowed him aside. _"I guess... 'be careful what you wish for,'"_ the sentient Quirk gritted.

"Dark Shadow," Ashido said, apparently not afraid of the Quirk at all, "you're in the way; I can't reach his head feathers. Sheesh, you have the whole common room to lurk in, and you had to pick floating over the chair that our subject is sitting on..."

"What are you doing?" Tokoyami asked her. The way the other four visible girls squinted at Ashido's work made him nervous. Invisible Hakagure kept squealing.

"I'm adding some color," Ashido told him. She sifted her fingers backwards through Tokoyami's head feathers. The strange prickle caused by having the feathers rubbed the wrong way made him shiver.

" _I don't think I envy you,"_ Dark Shadow said to him curtly. _"It seems weird to be touched that intimate way by_ not _the canary girl... don't you agree?"_

Tokoyami didn't reply. Dark Shadow then did as Ashido had implied he should, and stretched himself as far away as he could — careful also not to blot out the light.

"Will the color be permanent?" Tokoyami asked... as calmly as he could. He wasn't sure what he would do if he didn't like becoming colorful.

Ashido laughed so her chest shook in her hot-pink leopard print tank top. Tokoyami brusquely looked away from where she stood in front of him. "I'm not changing your actual feathers. Besides, they're so raven black... It would take forever to bleach them out so we could dye them another color."

"Oh. Thank you for not doing that."

Something rose into the air after that that wasn't Dark Shadow; Tokoyami saw it at first only in his peripherals. Then Hakagure brought a handful of something brightly colored over, so he could see it without moving his head.

"They're extra feathers like this," she said. "The decorative kind people wear in their hair!"

Tokoyami merely blinked. He did not know if he liked the idea. He had enough natural feathers of his own; it seemed awfully strange to be adding more on. It also seemed strange that people with hair would go so far as to want to wear fake feathers in it. Did that mean feathers were a desirable trait in the end? Or just that some people had odd fashion sense?

"I think we should shine his beak with beak polish," said Asui.

"Hmm. Do you have beak polish?" Jiro asked him. "Or varnish? Anything like that?" She put her hands on her hips and chewed the inside of her cheek, waiting for an affirmative. But Tokoyami shook his head.

His mother had only ever made him buff and varnish his beak once in his life — when he had met his grandmother from overseas on a special occasion. His beak had been so shiny and so blindingly reflective afterward that Dark Shadow had screamed and refused to come out. Since the varnish was designed not to wear off for roughly three whole days, Tokoyami had thrown a fit of angst. He had slammed doors and delivered words of complaint that made his mother blush... and his father snap his own buffed beak angrily.

After that, while his grandmother was still visiting, Tokoyami had painted his beak black. He had made sure the paint was jet dark and matte, so it covered the glare of the varnish fully. His whole family had learned a lesson from it when he'd startled his grandmother and made her fall over backward, screeching that he was an intruding Villain.

"No varnish," Tokoyami said, sweating.

"What if we rub it with a little herb-infused oil?" Yaoyorozu fished around in a bag of beauty items she had brought to the common room. Tokoyami hadn't known some girls kept track of so many creams, oils, and potions. "It's very high quality from France, and it might do for helping with some shine without being too much of it..."

"Will it moisturize, too?" Asui asked. She stuck her face too close to Tokoyami's, her tongue lolling from her lips. "There are some fine cracks in his beak, kero, and some ridges like people get in fingernails from too much of the wrong kind of nutrition."

Tokoyami bristled. He ate plenty of the right things, didn't he? His feathers stayed glossy, if not his beak. And yes, his beak had a few imperfections, but wasn't that to be expected from the exertion of Hero training? Even if he resented his beak sometimes, he'd always taken great pride in the way he kept it — until just now.

"Well, I have a thicker oil rub that might work, if we use it first and buff it off."

"That's just like you, Momo-chan. Let's do that."

At that, besides Ashido's hands clipping fake feathers into his real ones, suddenly there were more hands touching Tokoyami's beak, and holding him steady at the shoulders. Yaoyorozu's ponytail fell in his eyes when she leaned over to rub in the oil. Hakugure hummed a tune that had begun to become annoying, while she sorted through what looked like belts. Jiro was walking around him in circles staring at him up and down critically, and Uraraka... She seemed to be looking at some kind of reference image on her phone. She glanced between the screen and Tokoyami about a hundred times, occasionally fisting her free hand and nodding rigorously with a little, "Mm, mm!"

In short, the situation had started to become overwhelming.

Dark Shadow snickered from where he just watched. Tokoyami felt jealous the Quirk didn't have to share in this strange torture with him; even though all this had started because of Dark Shadow's bold whistle, Dark Shadow couldn't be touched because he was mere shadow. Unfair.

"Tilt your head back, please."

"My neck hurts."

"Just grit your teeth and do it!"

"Uggh..."

At first, the makeover hadn't seemed to be going too poorly. The shampoo and condition he'd received from his classmates in the bathroom sink had relaxed him. He hadn't even fidgeted while Uraraka scrubbed her fingertips through his feathers, and then towel dried off his head. He had even managed a grunt of a laugh when she'd told him, "If you wanted to, I could make your head feathers stick straight up by making them float!" But now the novelty had seemed to wear off.

Tokoyami just wanted to be finished.

The door to the stairwell opened. He heard Kaminari's voice call out.

"Hey, Jiro. I brought down the stuff you asked for. I don't know why you want it, though. It's not exactly—"

"Oh my— ppffffftttt!" Sero had come downstairs as well; his cry cut Kaminari off. Tokoyami could see neither boy, due to the gaggle of girls swarming him. "What are you guys _doing_ to him? Holy crap, that polo shirt... I don't think I've ever seen anything so hilarious! Is that visor right there gonna go on him, too, even after all those feathers? Oh man, that is really a _look_..." Sero came into view at last, holding his sides and cackling.

Tokoyami scowled. This was _not_ the reaction he wanted.

Uraraka looked uncomfortable too. She let her cell phone drop onto the couch. "Don't make fun of it," she exclaimed. "We've all been trying really hard to enhance his natural appeal!"

"No offense," Kaminari said, although Tokoyami still couldn't see him, "but there's nothing 'natural' at all about what you guys are doing to him."

The creak of the stairwell door sounded again. Then the footsteps of the person coming in scuffed to a halt, and a growl sounded.

"Oy, _Pikachu._ Fucking move."

Bakugo. Probably on his way outside for some late evening training.

Dark Shadow immediately zipped back toward Tokoyami. Tokoyami wondered if his Quirk would ever get over the trauma of facing Bakugo's explosions. He snaked out a hand to pet Dark Shadow's head, accidentally bumping Ashido's arm in the process. She tisked irritatedly at him.

Bakugo's shoes clomped their way around Kaminari, who grunted, "Don't shove me, dude." But then Bakugo's footsteps stopped.

Tokoyami could just see Bakugo's facial expression now... from out of the one eye that wasn't blocked by Yaoyorozu's ponytail. Bakugo's face went blank at first, then cracked into a practically psychotic grin as he assessed Tokoyami.

"Ohh? Who sent in the clown? Guess you lame-ass shits have nothing better to do around here."

Ashido pulled away from Tokoyami's head, stomped, and scowled. "Aaaahh, you boys aren't being fair! We've tried really hard at this! We're helping him enhance himself — so he can win a date with his pretty girl... and what are all of you doing to help? Nothing!"

"Is that what all this bullshit is?" Bakugo snorted, hands in his pockets. "No one's gonna fucking date him if you make him look like _that,_ Alien-Chick."

Everyone had finally stepped away from Tokoyami's vision field. And now he could move, because they weren't touching him.

He heaved a sigh and cracked his neck. "Am I finished?"

Ashido beamed, but the beam faltered as she glared at Bakugo. "Yes."

Tokoyami took the opportunity to stand and look down at himself.

He stared. And then he stared some more. And when he looked up, the tears of mingled mirth and mortification in Dark Shadow's eyes and the way Dark Shadow hid his beak under his wings and shook said almost everything. Kaminari and Sero's expressions said the rest; they looked about to pee their pants with glee. Perhaps it was the salmon-colored racing stripes down the legs of the pants.

"Quirk Thing is right," smirked Bakugo. "It blows."

Tokoyami did his best not to launch into a meltdown. All that time spent for an awful result that made the others laugh at and mock him?

"There's no need to be so rude!" Uraraka darted over. She aimed a punch at Bakugo's mid-region without a second of hesitation.

Bakugo dodged and caught her wrist.

Uraraka bent her knees low, pulled back her other fist, and moved. "I knew that you would catch me, so—!"

But as she tried to deliver the true blow, Bakugo caught that arm, too. He yanked her so close that she couldn't move, and then hissed right beside her ear. "Round-Face... you're getting pretty annoying. You really think you can take me again — and this time not be goddamn lame and pass out halfway through it? HaAH?!"

Tokoyami felt twice as terrible, then, for having somehow now prompted a brawl. Uraraka struggled in Bakugo's grip, but her voice shot low and picked up gravel... while a vein popped out on the side of her forehead.

"You're the one that _takes_ it, punk-ass bitch!" she said. Tokoyami had never seen her bare her teeth or snarl like that. "Should I get serious and give it to you, you number one class bully?! AaAAH?"

Bakugo's eyes narrowed at her smack talk... and then his killer's smirk slowly expanded. "Fight me outside, Uraraka — right now." His low husk and his stance said he'd be dangerous if she obliged. Tokoyami should stop them... but he couldn't quite move in the Crocs Asui had crammed on his feet. They were too small.

Kaminari and Sero stood bent over, practically collapsing with laughter. Their mirth at the confrontation drowned out Uraraka's rumbling reply... but Tokoyami made out _slaughter, Bakugo-kun,_ and _done for._

"Ooohhh, Bakugo," Sero was guffawing, "she said you're the one that takes it! You sure you wanna challenge her?"

Kaminari whacked himself on the knee. "Looks like Explosion Murder King's a bottom to her in the end..."

Tokoyami stood about to slap his face into his hand, sincerely hoping Midoriya would never have to witness something like this; it might shatter his view of Uraraka. But while the chaos continued, he noticed Jiro standing calmly, still assessing him — so he didn't react.

Instead he swallowed, and let Jiro complete a circle around him again. He caught a glance of his reflection in the common room windows and cringed. The colors were an eyesore and the polo shirt looked terrible with the pants. His head looked like someone had pinned the corpse of a tropical parrot onto it. He stood with his back very straight, suddenly with the idea in his head that Jiro might be his only hope at salvation, the only person who could rescue him from the mess he'd somehow gotten in.

She walked over to Kaminari and snatched the plastic bag he'd carried down from his room. Tokoyami wasn't sure what the bag held, but she peeped into it and smirked.

She said, "You ladies have done some good work, but do you mind if I take it from here? I don't think we'll make headway if we don't change the direction we're going in."

Dark Shadow seemed to sag, relieved. Bakugo released Uraraka, and Uraraka's face brightened again. Tokoyami, however, didn't feel that he would relax until he saw the contents of the bag for himself. Jiro _did_ look confident, though — which made him feel somewhat hopeful.

"Waaaahh," Hakagure cried. A moment later, Ashido sobbed as well. "You didn't like our version of his makeover?"

Jiro forced a smile and waved both of her hands in the air. "It's— it's not that! We don't have to destroy every element of it... but Kaminari and the others aren't wrong that your version needs work, ah ha ha..."

"Yes," Yaoyorozu said, "You're right. Something about what we've tried so far isn't quite working, is it." She used one hand to rub her chin.

Bakugo stormed past them all on his way toward the door outside, when it became apparent that Uraraka had lost interest in fighting him. But he offered, "It's 'cause he's too bright, Ponytail. He's darkness, aAH? _Darkness_. Damn, don't you get anything?" Then, at the door, Bakugo caught sight of the new bag from Kaminari in Jiro's hands. He squinted at it, then at Tokoyami... and still didn't open the door. He backed _away_ from the door. "Hmph."

Tokoyami rolled his eyes. Great. Now even _Bakugo_ felt invested in this — or at least vaguely interested. What on earth was inside the bag?

Yaoyorozu kept her fingers at her chin. She asked — though of whom, Tokoyami couldn't be sure — "Would it be better if we went for something more gothic in style, then?"

"Visual Kei!" Hakagure shouted.

"Elegant Gothic Lolita!" said Ashido.

Uraraka looked at Asui. "What do those styles require?"

Asui tilted her head. "It probably means they want Fumi-chan to wear a miniature top hat— kero."

Tokoyami could feel Dark Shadow cringe. The sentient Quirk said, _"'Fumi-chan?'"_

"Go away if it bothers you," Tokoyami replied to him. If Dark Shadow felt annoyed enough, then might he finally retreat? Might Tokoyami's problems end?

" _I told you, I'm not going anywhere until you do what I want... mostly because you want it, too."_

Jiro had both hands on her hips. She looked Tokoyami up and down once more. Then she nodded to herself before turning back to the group. "I was thinking more of a rock or punk style. Kaminari—" She whipped to face the couch. Kaminari had taken a front row seat there, still chuckling to himself. "Stop guffawing over there and come and help out with everyone if you're going to stick around."

"Me?" Kaminari pointed at himself. The snigger he'd been indulging in regarding the clothing struggle died at once. "What good am _I_ in this situation? I already brought some of my clothes that fit the description you asked for, didn't I?"

Jiro looked away. She seemed to be trying to hide a flush. "Your sense of style is decent. You could help out with more than that."

Sero sniggered into his hand. "It's true. Mineta and I even saw him putting on eyeliner the other day."

"It's edgy!" Kaminari protested.

"And edgy is what I think we should be going for," Jiro told them.

And so they started all over.

Tokoyami took off the clothes the girls had dug out for him and put on those brought by Kaminari instead, taking stock of the items as he went... while Dark Shadow used his wing span to make a private changing space for him. Black denim pants that fit tightly, soft from being washed and fading closer to gray where the fabric had worn. Studded belt with chains dangling. He tried on several 'edgy' shirts, and combinations of them with opened button-down shirts or elegant vests, showing them off to the people who watched. Afterward, one by one and while pouting, Ashido picked all the colorful feathers off his head.

Tokoyami was beginning to think his second image change didn't go so badly... when Jiro brought out a box of jewelry. "He needs a choker," she said.

"He needs some sexy bracelets up and down his arms!"

"He needs earrings!"

"And rings, too— right?" Kaminari and Sero were helping now as well, digging through Jiro's jewelry box as if it were a treasure chest. "Whoa, _this_ is cool," Kaminari expressed.

Sero cried, "You should try this one!"

Tokoyami backed away from the leather, the silver, the crosses, the skulls, the chains, and the rhinestones, feeling wary. "I can't wear earrings, at least. I don't have human ears." While he talked, Jiro clicked a second belt around his waist without asking. "Many of those necklaces fit my aesthetic, but I am hesitant to put on so many at once. Dark Shadow doesn't like things that are too shiny or reflective."

"Wuss," Bakugo grunted from in the corner, still scowling and watching there. It was not clear whether he spoke to Dark Shadow, Tokoyami, or both of them.

Tokoyami frowned and opened his beak to make a retort.

"He's right. You're being a wuss. Just do it," Jiro commanded before he could speak, snapping a piece of gum she'd started chewing. "Just pick out a bunch of stuff you feel like might look good on you and we'll try it." Yaoyorozu nodded, too.

It was a strange day indeed when the other students thought Bakugo's insults had any merit.

Stiffly, Tokoyami reached for a choker. It featured a burnished silver cross draped in a spider web, with a spider at the web's center — a black widow, with the red spot made out of a glittering, blood-red ruby. The strap of the choker felt soft, made of a sumptuous black velvet.

He started to hope again. "I think this one—"

"Good— sit. It's time for glitter."

"Glitter!" screeched Hakagure. "Yay, this is a makeover after all!"

"Wooooo!"

And thus, Tokoyami's hope flew out the window once and for all. Jiro fished out a pot of glitter, and then what looked like a tube of glue. Would the glue stick horribly to his feathers? She handed Yaoyorozu a paintbrush to apply it... and Yaoyorozu started lining it on the delicate feathers just above Tokoyami's eyes, then fanning it out to the corners.

"I think this will look lovely," Yaoyorozu said.

"A bit more glitter, kero," Asui pointed, as Jiro followed Yaoyorozu's paintbrush with daubs of the sparkling stuff.

Tokoyami sat rigid, too mortified and shocked to protest anything. Not only did he fear the glue wouldn't wash off, but the glitter would certainly get everywhere — wouldn't it? It already dotted his lap.

Dark Shadow drifted over and tried to blow the glitter away with his breath. Instead the glitter landed on the surface of the boots Jiro had gifted him, because she had ordered them in a size too large and Tokoyami had feet that were a little bit small for a male. The dislodged glitter got caught in and around the rows of straps and buckles that lined them.

At least the glitter seemed to have a pleasing combination of colors. It sometimes glinted black, sometimes midnight blue, sometimes a deep royal purple.

"Am I done yet?"

"Yeah, almost." Jiro stepped away at last. "Just stand up and spin three hundred sixty degrees. I'll fill in any missing spots, and then you can look at yourself in the reflection from the window and decide if you like it."

Tokoyami did as she asked. But before he could assess himself, the door to the stairwell opened yet _again_.

He closed his eyes instead of turn around to see who came in next. How many of the class 1-A students would have to be witness to this? He felt... he felt so embarrassed that he had agreed to do this.

"T-T-Tokoyami-kun!"

Tokoyami opened his eyes again and turned around at that. Midoriya's round eyes became even rounder, finding his.

"Wh-what happened to you? What are you wearing?" His voice shot up very high.

Tokoyami looked down at himself for the second time that evening, wishing he could get a reaction besides amusement or utter shock. Then again, did it matter what the boys of his class thought, or only the girls? Would the true test of his makeover be if _both_ genders liked the end result, or not?

Dark Shadow sighed from over Tokoyami's head. Dully, Tokoyami asked, "Is this no good?"

Maybe, Tokoyami thought, it was the fraying gash cut very high on the thigh of one of the legs of his pants. Or the 'tattoo' design Uraraka had painted on the skin of his thigh, visible now through the gash.

Midoriya floundered. "You're—"

"But how!" Iida was there too, apparently also on his way outside to evening training like Midoriya and Bakugo, judging by his workout attire. He dashed forward with arms pumping, cutting Midoriya off. "How! How did this spectacle come about?"

Dark Shadow cowered. _"Are makeovers not allowed in the common room?"_ He tended to cower whenever he thought the class president or a teacher might scold them. _"I think this outfit is better than the last..."_

Iida either didn't hear the question or he chose to ignore it. He swept up Tokoyami's hands — just as Tokoyami had finally been about to turn to look at himself in the windows. "You," he said terribly seriously, his eyeglasses glinting in the overhead lights, "are a changed man entirely."

Tokoyami tried to catch a glimpse of himself in Iida's glasses instead, allowing Iida to keep clasping his hands. All he could make out was his eye glitter.

The door to the stairwell opened again, and this time, Tokoyami wasn't surprised to find another person joining them. A low, smooth voice said, "Excuse me," as Todoroki slipped into the room. He wore a hand towel around his neck and looked also to be on his way outdoors to train.

"I don't know that he's changed that much," Midoriya mused, absorbed in the event at hand. He seemed to be over his initial shock. He walked a little closer, scanning Tokoyami up and down. "While it's not like anything we've ever seen Tokoyami-kun wearing before, it still feels like him, somehow. Doesn't it?"

That wasn't any clear kind of verdict. If the new clothes and makeup felt like 'him,' was that the _old_ him Tokoyami had been trying to change, or the new him the girls had tried hard to create?

The assessment wasn't enough.

Tokoyami pulled his hands away from Iida. He turned to where Todoroki had halted short, also unsuccessful now at making it outside for night training.

Todoroki faltered, finding Tokoyami's eyes on him — and it seemed Todoroki couldn't wipe what looked like the _awe_ off his face.

Awe was different. That was a start. But was it positive awe regarding what the girls had done to him, or only something negative?

"Is it good?" Tokoyami asked, keeping his eyes locked on Todoroki.

Certainly Todoroki would be blunt, clear, and honest with him. And then, if the truth was that he looked horrible, Tokoyami could spare himself from having to examine the disaster in the windows of the common room. He could just call this whole thing off.

Todoroki bit his lower lip, and then said in a cracking voice, "I... I don't know what happened, but it's good."

The fidgeting made Tokoyami wonder if Todoroki was lying. He felt stunned he might be lied to by the one student he believed was always direct. Except... no. Maybe Tokoyami was wrong?

After speaking, Todoroki flushed, cleared his throat, and blinked at the floor. Tokoyami's heart rate stuttered and his stomach did a flip. Was... was the unflappable Todoroki Shoto embarrassed by the way Tokoyami's appearance struck him? B-because he hated it... or he _liked_ it?

If Todoroki's reaction was because Tokoyami's look made his breath catch, then it was a level of compliment Tokoyami hadn't expected. He stood a moment, shocked senseless... while Todoroki's eyes flicked up to run down his body once more.

" _Tch._ " Bakugo made an annoyed sound. He shoved his hands in his pockets, shot Todoroki a glare, and whirled away. He went outside at last for his training.

Only Midoriya turned his head to watch the angry blond boy leave... and then some tension leaked out of his shoulders. Everyone else's attention remained on Tokoyami... and now on Todoroki.

"It _is_ good," Yaoyorozu said. "I think if the pretty girl sees him, she'll... um," Her words trailed off. She, too, fixed Todoroki with a look — but this look seemed to be made of concern versus everyone else's skepticism and astonishment. "Or maybe, really anyone would like it? I-I think I see _you_ do, Todoroki-san?" Her voice climbed higher at the end, although she appeared to be trying to remain calm about something. The she trembled. "UA to Todoroki-san!"

Todoroki flinched, startled. "What?"

Todoroki liked what he saw. That was clear now. It was definitely more than Tokoyami had bargained for — from _any_ of the male members of his class. Or really, anyone at all. Had Hakagure been right in the end? Did his clothes and his makeup make such a statement that it didn't matter what _he_ looked like under them? Or was this somehow just a fluke, or because Todoroki had odd taste? Did Tokoyami actually look that good?

He turned for the windows at last and raised his eyes to meet himself.

What he saw didn't look so outstanding to him. Although, admittedly the glitter did enhance the glimmer of his eyes and bring out the natural hues in his feathers, and the tight fit of the pants and shirt showed off his toned thighs and midsection. The jewelry did give him an edge. The boots did make him look taller, thanks to their chunky heel and the illusion caused by the rows of straps and buckles up them. He'd needed to roll the pant legs up before he'd zippered the knee-high boots over them, because he was shorter than almost everybody but Midoriya and Mineta. And Asui had needed to safety pin the shirt at the back to make it fit his waist... but he supposed he looked all right. Not stunning, but not terrible.

Dark Shadow looked at their reflection as well. Then, experimentally — and as Tokoyami turned for a side view — he floated to hover between Tokoyami's shoulder blades, spreading his wingspan in a sudden, flourishing movement. It made Tokoyami resemble an avenging angel of darkness.

The ice-and-fire heartthrob of the class made an astonished, helpless sound.

Tokoyami turned back around, while Kaminari said to Todoroki in an undertone that carried, "You're too easy to read right now."

Todoroki turned pinker. "What?" Vehemently, and while a little steam — or maybe a puff of cool — came off his skin, Todoroki turned in a circle, addressing the whole common room. "He looks _good_ in that. It's obvious it suits him, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Sero, while Kaminari grinned, "but maybe you should wipe your drool."

"There's nothing wrong with admitting he looks attractive," Midoriya reminded everybody, smiling overly-brightly. "So I'll go ahead and say it, too. Tokoyami-kun, you look amazing!"

Midoriya's smile and the innocent tilt of his head _almost_ laid waste to Tokoyami's black soul, by melting it to a puddle in his chest and turning it into pure light. Dark Shadow squeaked, affected too.

"You really do, man," Sero said.

Tokoyami's fingers twitched. Never before had he been complimented like this. Never before flattered. It was embarrassing... but it also felt good.

"Incredible, kero! A perfect result."

"Sexy. _Sexy_ is what it is!" Upon Ashido's exclamation, everyone in the room cheered. Then in a steam of exclamations, they added to the compliments.

At all that, Todoroki appeared mollified. Yaoyorozu still considered the half hot, half cold boy with startled glances... but Tokoyami didn't care whose closet his makeover had broken open. The makeover was a _success_ if everyone admired it. That meant even the beautiful canary girl might find him attractive if she could see him.

He simply needed to find her again. For a moment, Tokoyami's joy diminished, wondering how he would do it. He'd gotten this far... but what next?

"Well, but now the question is..." Uraraka's voice sounded small.

Asui prompted her with a pat. "Did you have a concern still, Ochako-chan?"

"It's just... we got him all dressed up, but dinner is over and it's curfew time soon, and then time for bed... I'm just thinking. We'll have to do this all again, whenever he finds his pretty girl and goes to talk to her."

Dark Shadow's beak stretched open. But not a single sound came out. The sentient Quirk dropped his head and sagged, shrinking to the size of a pixie again.

Their problems still weren't solved, although some headway had been made at last. Tokoyami knew how Dark Shadow felt. They were far from contentment yet.

But Hakagure bounced around. She said, "Yes, we'll do it again! Maybe even better next time!"

Iida nodded vigorously, clapping Tokoyami on the shoulder. Tokoyami stumbled a step forward. "I feel terrible that I was not here to help with your transformation — but I will aid this mission from now on! Tokoyami-kun, I will personally participate in decorating your feathers with glitter however many times it takes, until you win over the girl of your dreams!"

"And after he does that," Jiro said, before Tokoyami could get a word in, "Tokoyami-kun can learn how to dress up like this by himself. Just because you win the girl initially doesn't mean you can let yourself go after that, and expect her to settle." For some reason, she shot dagger eyes in Kaminari's direction.

Kaminari openly cringed.

Asui ribbited. "Kero, kero! However, everybody... don't you think we're forgetting the most important part of this? The finding of the girl again? That's Fumi-chan's desire — and Dark Shadow's." Tokoyami decided Asui was one of the only people who ever talked sense... besides the way she addressed him. "If we all want to help out Fumi-chan... we have to locate this girl, and make sure they two can meet each other!"

Ashido banged a fist into the flat of her opposite palm. "You know what this means? Battle plans!"

"A battle?" Tokoyami said, startled by everyone's sudden energy.

"A battle to reach your love!"

That seemed to jump the gun a bit. "I... I can't say I love her yet..."

Nobody seemed to hear him. Everyone was talking again. Tokoyami could only catch small snatches of conversation in the noise.

"Less like a battle, maybe more like a patrol," Uraraka was saying, apparently talking to Midoriya. "We can all go with him to give support!"

"Patrol, patrol," Hakagure shouted. "Patrol the streets in his nice clothes, trying to attract her like he's a magnet!"

"Magnet," Midoriya muttered, "A magnet... Like that Villain, Magne? It might work, if we consider—"

The door to the outside banged open this time instead of the stairwell door, cutting Midoriya off.

Aizawa came inside — dragging Bakugo with him by the collar.

"Too close to curfew," the man was drawling. His bloodshot eyes narrowed when Bakugo cursed. "All you would have is ten minutes by now, and I don't feel like explaining away the explosions I know you could cause in that time. Besides, don't you remember? You and Todoroki laid waste to the after-school training area _last_ evening, and Cementoss hasn't had time to fix it yet. Do your extra credit homework instead."

"I already _did_ that, damn it!"

Aizawa stopped walking and let Bakugo go; he noticed Tokoyami, the crowd of enthused students, and the items littering the common room. His widening eyes lingered on Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, unblinking. Then he shook his head and kept walking. "If I don't ask, you won't have to tell me. Make you sure all of you go to bed on time when you're finished with whatever new mess this is... and don't leave any of that glitter around." The teacher walked off toward Lunch Rush's cafeteria and then disappeared.

"Bakugo-kun," Uraraka said, startling the boy with a slap on his shoulder in the moment he started to slink away. "We're plotting a group trip to go find the girl!"

Bakugo brushed Uraraka's hand off, but his face turned a little red. "Count me out; I ain't going on such a stupid excursion." He kicked at a spot on the rug.

Todoroki fixed Bakugo with a stare. The stare seemed to blame him for bringing down Aizawa's attention and cutting off night training ten minutes early. Or maybe for something else? After all, weren't both boys stuck in provisional license training together, because of having failed their first round of tests? Surely the training was a strain on them both... and maybe it had caused them not to get along? "You're coming with us, Bakugo."

"Like fucking hell I am, shit-stick!"

"You could at least _try_ to improve the view everybody else has of you..."

"Go make more gross lust-faces at Bird-Brain!"

Slowly, slowly, Tokoyami lifted his fingers to rub his temples. The action helped him tune everybody out and reflect on his status now. Even though he'd felt his feathers before, after the girl's conditioning treatment, it surprised him all over again to feel how soft the feathers were... but a headache seemed to be developing from temple to temple across his forehead. And Dark Shadow was clinging to him, his head bouncing every which way as he tried to follow the conversations around them.

Tokoyami spoke, wondering if anyone even heard him. "I don't understand. Why do all of you want to help with this beyond what you've already done? Isn't it my burden from here on out?"

The common room fell silent. He opened the eyes he had squinted shut, looking around at all of them.

"Isn't it obvious?" Midoriya asked. He truly looked astonished. Maybe slightly wounded.

Tokoyami said nothing. Dark Shadow volunteered, _"It's not."_

Iida's jaw fell open, but quick as a flash, he closed it. His brows drew together so he almost appeared furious. He said, "It's because we're your friends! Your _friends,_ Tokoyami-kun!"

Ashido said, "Your triumphs in love are ours!"

Sero wrinkled his nose. "That's weird."

"I didn't mean it like we would ask him to share details about his sexploits and then enjoy them in _that_ sense or anything, dummy!"

"Whoa— who suggested anything that far? Anyway, seriously, man," Sero said, focusing on Tokoyami, "they're right. We're your friends. That's why we want to help you."

Tokoyami opened his beak, then clicked it shut — much as Dark Shadow had done earlier in the chaos. He wasn't the sort of person who had friends. He had... classmates. Acquaintances. Tokoyami was lonely, but he could bear it. He was Tsukuyomi, a Hero of darkness. He didn't need to have friends or anybody close to him. Hadn't he established that before he had gone to dinner? If he _did_ have friends, wouldn't he simply lose them, once they realized how strange he was? Wouldn't he be alone again?

Better not to have friends at all. Better to only have Dark Shadow.

He felt Dark Shadow look at him. When he looked back, Dark Shadow raised a wavering, shadowy eyebrow that ruffled his shadow-feathers.

Dark Shadow was right to be skeptical. Tokoyami was lying to himself.

He wanted friends. He'd just never believed he might truly gain them.

"Tokoyami-kun?" Midoriya asked. The peer of concern on his face was too much.

Tokoyami pivoted, his clothes and his feathers making a ripple in his wake. A couple of the girls swooned. Todoroki spun away and strode off down the hall, murmuring. "I shouldn't look any more..."

"Thank you for your friendship," Tokoyami said to all of them. "In order to show you how grateful I am that you are willing to risk the darkness to associate with me, and to help me control Dark Shadow..." Dark Shadow perked up. He could sense Tokoyami's new resolve. "I will go out on a patrol with you. I will find the lovely maiden with the yellow canary head and make sure that I speak to her." At that, he strode away as well, doing his best to make himself look confident as he did so.

Dark Shadow preceded him, grinning. _"You'll be speaking with her for your own sake too, though, right?"_

Behind him, Uraraka said dazedly, "She has a _canary_ head? He didn't mention that before, did he..."

* * *

 _ **Author Note:** I've posted the first two chapters at once to start because I felt ambitious, but the next chapter will come next week._


	3. Mission Start (and Todoroki's Feelings)

The entirety of Class 1-A turned out to help Tokoyami patrol the streets. It might have been because now most of them were Tokoyami's friends.

It also might have been because the teachers had made an excursion of it.

"Line up," Aizawa told them. He shuffled off the train just behind them — as incognito as he could look while in plain clothes and with his combat scarf that hid his goggles still wrapped tight around his neck. Midnight stepped off the platform after him, winking when Tokoyami looked to confirm again that it was really her. He had never seen her wear her hair up. Other than that, she looked mostly unremarkable dressed like a businesswoman. Aizawa didn't raise his voice, but instead pitched it to carry low, under the pedestrian and traffic sounds. "We'll split you up into groups and cover the area faster that way."

Tokoyami walked toward where Iida had begun to line up their class in seating order without using their names out loud — while also trying to keep out of the way of the many people in the shopping district. The goal was to appear like a normal class out with their chaperones on a field trip... instead of like a class full of known Hero trainees who'd appeared on the news more times than they could count.

Too bad Tokoyami trailed enough falling glitter to call several glances in their direction.

Midoriya walked next to him, looking as tense as Tokoyami felt. He scratched his temple and laughed nervously.

"What is it?" Tokoyami asked, checking again that his bracelets were lined up.

"Don't you think this is overkill? I know the League of Villains would be happy if it could eliminate some of us. But with all of us here, including Aizawa-sensei and Midnight-sensei... Well, I do like that we're safe, but I'm not thinking it helps you feel comfortable while trying to find the girl you like and ask if she'll go on a date." Midoriya laughed helplessly. The laugh petered out into a sigh that Tokoyami thought sounded guilty. Was Midoriya thinking it was somehow his fault the teachers were involved?

"Midoriya," Aizawa said from where he'd come up behind them.

Dark Shadow twitched at the teacher's dark tone, and Tokoyami gulped, swallowing any reply he might have made.

"He doesn't have the luxury of pursuing his love life in private," Aizawa said. "Like it or not, because of one girl's existence, Tokoyami can't control his Quirk. The only way to de-escalate the issue is to make confronting the girl a priority — and considering the circumstances surrounding this class lately, it's best to tackle that challenge as a team and while you're all under supervision."

" _I promise I'll behave and go away if I can see her again!"_ Dark Shadow said from where he made himself small above Tokoyami's shoulder.

Aizawa's face didn't change. "This is a matter of safety for the whole class, but also a chance to keep learning something at an accelerated rate. And it's _necessity_ for Tokoyami's continuation of Hero training — so just get in line."

"R-right!" Midoriya scampered to his place.

"And stop blaming yourself and the others for making things awkward for him. It was Midnight and I who decided to get the principle's permission to arrange for this."

Midoriya nodded, biting his lip. Tokoyami began to line up as well, but Aizawa's hand on his shoulder paused him.

"Are you uncertain too now about this plan, or was it only Midoriya doubting everything again?"

A beat passed before Tokoyami replied. He didn't want Aizawa thinking Midoriya's concerns were something to brush off, no matter what the circumstances. Not that Tokoyami expected any danger during their task today... but how many times before had Midoriya's good judgement and quick thinking saved all of them from something they'd been too slow to confront or see themselves? Certainly by now, Aizawa knew that. Still... Tokoyami spoke in his defense. "I'm grateful that Midoriya is attuned to the situation on a deeper level. I value his ability to assess circumstances and give his input. That said, I am fine with everyone's presence. Even if it's overwhelming... which it is..." Tokoyami stood up straighter, abhorred that he'd almost stuttered. Was he a prince of darkness or wasn't he? "I intend to find this girl, no matter what kind of entourage it takes."

"And however long it takes us?"

"Yes."

Aizawa motioned for him to get in line, apparently satisfied by the response.

When Tokoyami lined up and turned around, Midnight raised her arm for attention. She, too, spoke low under the noise of the crowds. "Like you saw before we left, we've divided this district into three blocks — which means that we'll be in three groups."

"But there are only two teachers," protested Mineta immediately. "Are you saying one group will have to go alone and face danger?"

Aizawa replied to him. "Bakugo and Todoroki will lead the group that's going alone, Group C." He kept talking — over Bakugo's startled, "Eh?" and Todoroki's sharp twitch of surprise. "Since you two didn't pass your license exams, consider this an opportunity to practice your leadership skills and your discretion. Tokoyami will be going with you, so make sure you cooperate and don't mess up."

Bakugo stared, his eyes razor-blade-narrow, and still somehow seeming to pop out of his head. Todoroki uttered, "Is this really the time to assign us a test?"

"It's not without insurance," Aizawa said. "Midoriya and Iida will go with you. I trust them to interfere if you two start to get out of control."

Tokoyami was not surprised that Bakugo finally cracked — only surprised that Bakugo could keep his voice low when he needed to. "You're putting me with _both_ Half-and-Half _and_ with useless, shitty Deku?!"

Kirishima rolled his eyes. "You gotta learn better chill," he muttered.

Aizawa's gaze found Kirishima at that. Aizawa added, "You too."

"Huh? Me?" Kirishima pointed at himself, appearing completely bemused.

"You're the best one at keeping Bakugo on a tight leash. So go."

The other students all stared, and Kirishima turned as red as his hair. At last, Kaminari ventured, "Sensei's not even _trying_ anymore to pretend he can't see through us."

"Group C," Aizawa announced again. "Bakugo, Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida, Kirishima, Tokoyami. Please do your best to locate your target."

So Tokoyami's fate was in the hands of this group of students. He walked to stand with all of them. In some ways, he thought, glancing at Midoriya as Midoriya gave Bakugo wide berth, the arrangement couldn't be better. In other ways, he thought, while Bakugo kicked a pebble and swore under his breath at everyone, it probably couldn't be worse.

"Sensei," Yaoyorozu said, raising her hand immediately. "It may not be my place to point it out, but I can't help but notice..."

"Yes, what?"

"You're placing all the students that we know the League has targeted before... together. Without supervision. Doesn't that put them in extra danger, by making them one easy group to take out?"

At that, Tokoyami shifted. Yaoyorozu's point wasn't wrong. He watched Midoriya stiffen as well. But Todoroki didn't seem to react. And Bakugo still spewed curse words under his breath about 'Deku.'

"That's not what sensei's doing," Kaminari muttered, groaning dramatically. "He's putting all the strongest and the coolest dudes with each other, because he thinks they're capable. Which means all the rest of us suck."

"That's not the case," Midnight answered. She and Aizawa exchanged a quick glance. Without addressing the topic further, she raised her hand skyward again. "I'll be chaperoning Group B. That includes—"

"It includes me, right?" Mineta shouted. Then, wiping his drool visibly, he began to stalk toward Midnight's legs.

Before Midnight resorted to kneeing the small boy in the face... Sero snaked out a piece of tape and wound it around Mineta's mouth and eyes.

Then, resignedly, Sero marched them both over toward Aizawa. "So we'll go here in your group, right?"

Aizawa just rolled his eyes. Tokoyami took that to mean their teacher had already planned it that way. Their teacher did clever things, deliberately, because he saw through them... So why indeed had he assigned all the targets of the League of Villains into one obvious group? There had to be a reason. What was it?

Midnight finished off her lists. "Group B with me is Koda, Sato, Shoji, Jiro, Hakagure, Ojiro, Yaoyorozu. Group A with Eraser Head is Aoyama, Ashido, Kaminari, Asui, Uraraka, Mineta, Sero."

A few of the students exchanged glances. Todoroki still looked thoughtful, as the class began to shift and start taking their assigned formations. Tokoyami watched Midoriya catch Todoroki's gaze, then nod, while appearing tense and wide-eyed. And Bakugo's eyes had narrowed again, but this time seemingly in realization. Iida jerked, looking at once to Midoriya and Todoroki as if for confirmation of some kind. And Kirishima whispered, "It couldn't be they're doing _that_ to our group _..._ are they?"

They were all thinking about Aizawa's reason for grouping them together. But they seemed to have developed theories... and Tokoyami hadn't yet. That made Tokoyami the only student who didn't know what might be happening.

Startled, he looked between the members of Group C for an answer.

Midoriya slipped up to him and whispered so his voice wouldn't carry. "I can't say for certain, but... Yaoyorozu-san had a point about us being the group of targeted ones. But since there's no way the school would put us in danger..."

Tokoyami at last caught on. "We're still being monitored," he said. "From a distance, probably by _multiple_ teachers. They're somewhere that we can't see." If not multiple teachers, maybe Ectoplasm had come and cloned himself for guard duty.

Todoroki's eyes flicked to him — but very quickly, then away. Was that a slight pinkness to his face? "Yes. They're hidden, either to lure any Villains who might attack into a false sense of security thinking no one is around, or to scare the Villains into deciding not to act, or at least into hesitating cautiously if they locate us but can't see _which_ teachers are guarding us."

Bakugo cracked his knuckles. "So basically, what are we? We're fuckin' _bait._ The teachers are using us to see if Villains will come out, to kill as many birds as possible." Dark Shadow shivered at that wording. "Ah, but whatever — bring it on. Guess this means I can't kill shitty Deku or I'll get expelled, though, because we're all being watched. Hmmph."

"Ah ha ha ha, ha... Kacchan." Midoriya's smile appeared painful.

Bakugo made a good point about the teachers' thinking. But Tokoyami wasn't sure he was okay with being bait. This excursion wasn't supposed to be about Villains at all.

Todoroki rounded on Bakugo, cutting off the protest Kirishima had been about to stage instead in Midoriya's defense — although Todoroki's stone-cold expression didn't even shift. "Enough. You're always harsh toward him. You ought to be on your best behavior; I don't want to take another hit thanks to your attitu—"

"AaAHH?! Say that again in the range of my fists, Scar Face! Do you think this shit is all about you?"

Tokoyami cringed, deciding that perhaps their whole excursion had been a bad decision. Iida and Kirishima prepared to intervene, Midoriya flailed helplessly, and Tokoyami wondered why lately conflict seemed to erupt everywhere around him. Maybe Dark Shadow's endless hovering presence put people on edge.

Hakagure's voice cut in from somewhere over Tokoyami's shoulder. "Hey, you guys! I guess this is goodbye for now."

A moment of confusion resulted, as Group C tried to figure out where Hakagure was standing... and why she had left her own group.

Also, since Class 1-A was meant to patrol the district as inconspicuously as possible, they'd all worn normal clothes instead of uniforms... but Hakagure had gone naked. No one wanted to touch her accidentally and make her scream the way she could. Tokoyami had finally begun to wonder what the habit of nakedness did to Hakagure's wellbeing on days of inclement weather, too... but he knew he couldn't ask her.

"Do your best to support Tokoyami-kun in his love endeavors!" she told them. She had come to see them off?

"Yeah," cried Ashido from in her own group. "Don't forget to check his makeup sometimes! His looking good is the whole point of this!"

"Stay in formation and don't shout," Aizawa said. "Group A will be taking the north block. Group B has the west block, and Group C has the southeast one. We'll patrol until the meet up time that we settled on previously. Does everyone have their descriptions of the girl that Tokoyami gave them memorized?"

"What color exactly did you say her feathers were again?" Aoyama turned to him. "I wouldn't want to bring the wrong beauty back to you — never, _non!_ Was it 'yellow like sunflower petals,' or 'yellow like a school bus?'"

"Dude, we _are_ the group that sucks," Kaminari said mournfully.

Tokoyami repeated his description of the canary girl again, his arms crossed over his chest — and the checkered shirt and black vest he had worn today at Jiro's request. "Shining yellow down, like the light that banishes the dark," he said. His pants, boots, accessories and makeup were still the same as the first time everybody had dressed him up.

" _Oui_ , now I recall. Brilliant~!"

"We'll move out one group at a time," Aizawa said. "Group A first. Stop dawdling and let's go."

Hakagure, part of Group B, lingered just a little longer. "Say," she said. "Just one more thing."

"What is it, Hakagure-san?" asked Midoriya. But then Hakagure paused.

Todoroki brusquely ignored everyone. The mismatched boy brushed past Tokoyami. Come to think of it, Tokoyami realized, Todoroki had barely even dared to _glance_ at him today.

The other night, Todoroki hadn't been able to pull his eyes away. Had Todoroki become immune to the sight of Tokoyami's new look already? Or was Tokoyami's change of shirt not as affective as the ensemble he had worn before? Or was Todoroki trying to distance himself from the distraction that was Tokoyami's makeover by forcing himself to ignore Tokoyami? Had Yaoyorozu confronted him about her jealousy?

And why did Tokoyami care?

" _Stop being insecure,"_ Dark Shadow whispered. _"Whatever you think, your success doesn't depend on the approval of the class hottie."_

Todoroki started muttering darkly, since Hakagure hadn't finished her thought yet. "I'll take the lead. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow can travel in the middle, and—"

"I ain't fucking following you, Icy-Hot! The rest of you douchebags can walk behind _me._ "

"Um," Hakagure tried yet again, her voice getting farther away as she seemed to distance herself from Bakugo.

Todoroki grit his teeth, keeping his back to Bakugo and still ignoring Hakagure. "No. Bakugo— you and Midoriya bring up the rear. Or what looks like the rear, but actually isn't. You two are the biggest targets the League has, and that spot will be the easiest place for the guard teachers following us — the real rear — to defend. Iida and Kirishima can flank you—"

"I have an idea," Hakagure said, before Bakugo could open his mouth again.

Todoroki's body jerked forward... and then Tokoyami's, right up beside him. They'd both been pushed by invisible hands.

"Since the purpose of this is to attract a girl and not go battle Villains... you two need to lead together! Side by side. Yeah, that's right, like that, like that!"

Tokoyami had pivoted to follow Hakagure's voice, and ended up closer to Todoroki.

"What is the tactical advantage of that, Hakagure-kun?" Iida asked.

"Because two pretty boys are better than one! Think about all the attention they'll attract if they go together!"

"Hakagure," Midnight called. "Group B is leaving. Are you here?"

"It's romantic," Hakagure added quickly. "Girls will be attracted to the pair of you, don't you know? So be his escort, Todoroki-kun, his escort!" Then they all heard the sound of her feet scamper off to join her group.

There was a pause. Todoroki said, "Escort?"

Kirishima said, "She means like that? Oh man, all right — then let's do it."

"R-Really?" Midoriya said.

Tokoyami stood still, doing his best to process the suggestion.

"What does she mean, 'escort?'" Todoroki asked. "If we're all already going with him..."

"What else can we try?" shrugged Kirishima in response to Midoriya... while Tokoyami mused, as slow as Todoroki in understanding the suggestion. Kirishima turned to the rest of them. "And she's right — this isn't about Villains, you guys. We've just got to assume we're protected by the teachers, and focus on finding Tokoyami's love interest... with whatever tricks that we have up our sleeves. Plus, I dunno. If a girl tells us what methods she thinks will work best, then shouldn't we listen to her advice? I mean... what would most of _us_ know about how to lure in a woman on our own?"

Tokoyami blinked rapidly, startled. Iida let out a note of shock. Midoriya buried his face in his palm. Todoroki exhaled a long, silent breath... and again, Kirishima turned red.

"I just meant because most of us are too busy with school for girls right now! Not because we don't like girls and never bothered to learn how to woo them!"

"You shitty liar," husked Bakugo, grinning. "Admit that you like sucking—"

"I'm leaving," Tokoyami said. He didn't want to listen to anymore... and Dark Shadow was already blocking his ears. Why did he keep landing in situations where somebody suggested he had preferences that he didn't?

He ignored the shock around him as he stepped out down the sidewalk. Clearly, at this rate, it would be better if he and Dark Shadow began their special search alone.

What girl would want to approach him if he remained surrounded by noisy classmates, anyway? The sexual orientation implications aside, it was too much.

"Oy, Bird Brain... I don't think so."

Bakugo stormed up from behind, then came around in front and forced Tokoyami to a halt — by planting his feet and appearing unhinged. "My ass is on the line here, being tested by the teachers, so—"

"So we can't just let our objective walk off by himself," finished Iida. The class president looked apologetic, though he came up to stand right beside Bakugo.

"Fuck off, Four Eyes — I had the lecture covered." Bakugo growled while Iida sighed. "If you screw this up, Crow Face... I'll kill you."

Tokoyami crossed his arms and glared at Bakugo darkly. He didn't intend to screw up. But the rest of his group was making his nerves fray, which made screw-ups more likely. How could Tokoyami convey that, without causing further conflict?

Todoroki still sounded confused. He murmured to himself, "Escort..."

"Then we need to agree on a plan," Tokoyami said angrily to Bakugo. Dark Shadow flared behind him, sensing his increasing frustration.

He didn't want to lose control. But they were wasting time lingering here. There was only a short window in which to try to meet the canary girl in the spot he had stumbled across her before, at the same time.

They weren't even near that spot now.

"What the shit — are your ears broken?" Bakugo snarled a face at him. "We already _have_ a plan, dumbass. Invisible Naked Chick gave it to us, and Shitty Hair just explained why it would make perfect sense to follow it. It's you and fucking Half-and-Half who are delaying the execution."

Tokoyami ground his teeth. If Bakugo agreed with Kirishima in the end about using the escort plan, he should have said so earlier. "You—"

"But Kacchan," Midoriya said. He hissed to keep his voice down, and suddenly to Tokoyami, their whole situation felt like a bad comedy. He wanted to storm off again. "What if Todoroki-kun is uncomfortable being Tokoyami-kun's escort, attracting that x-rated kind of attention from complete strangers, and in public?"

Todoroki said, paling, "X-rated?"

"O-or the other way around? I mean, it's scandalous — isn't it, escort services? Like what Mineta watches all the time inside his dorm room next to me..."

Tokoyami fisted one hand in the feathers of his head, groaning.

"That boy is too underaged to obtain porn!" Iida blustered, robot-arming until he looked breathless. "And you! You, Midoriya-kun, to be in the position of hearing it—"

Midoriya was hardly listening. He still tried to reason with Bakugo... while Tokoyami noticed Dark Shadow quiver and tried again to rein his annoyance in. "N-not that it's not fine to show feelings of attraction toward someone! It is, don't I keep saying it? But if it's forced from peer pressure, and people are watching, and it's really dirty—"

Bakugo seized Midoriya's collar. "Who in the fuck said it has to be dirty on that level! What the hell, Shitty Deku!"

"—and if ultimately," Midoriya went on, closing his hand over Bakugo's grip and struggling, "Tokoyami-kun wants to be with his pretty girl, then for Todoroki-kun especially—"

"You think it's _my_ fucking problem if Icy-Hot can't handle it, or cool off any hot-blooded reaction he has in his pants thanks to Bird Brain's glitter?!"

Kirishima stepped between them both, prying Midoriya free of Bakugo's hold. " _Ba_ ku-bro, you gotta chill... And Dark Shadow, Tokoyami... you guys, too. You're starting to block out some sun."

Tokoyami held out his arm, and Dark Shadow reluctantly shrank down to perch on it like an owl or a falcon. Both of them, however, looked on the group with eyes slit like those of murderous prey-birds. Tokoyami wondered what it would feel like to peck their eyes out.

"You fucking lot are such extras! For shit's sake! How do _none_ of you idiots know how to apply yourselves to this situation without making it a freak show?"

Dark Shadow flapped his wings and rumbled. Tokoyami crossed his arms over his chest again, releasing his Quirk to the air. Let Dark Shadow make them nervous. Bakugo still blocked his path. But Tokoyami spoke calmly. He remained wary of the shoppers moving through the district all around them. "If I agree to take your direction so the plan can proceed... what then? Will you—"

"Then you can _find your stupid girl_ , you wanton dolt! You can put that Quirk of yours away, and all of us can quit this shit." Bakugo walked around him, much too close, which made Tokoyami stiffen. He prodded Tokoyami in the back. "Fix your image, first of all."

There came the sound of Bakugo cracking his knuckles. Then he circled around again. For all the world, Bakugo resembled Jiro as she'd given Tokoyami the once over during his makeover session.

Was Bakugo actually trying to help him?

A mutter slipped out of Midoriya. "You're not the person to talk to people about their images, Kacchan..."

"What the fuck was that, Deku?!"

"N-nothing!" Midoriya said.

Todoroki, Iida, and Kirishima stood, watching the proceedings with mixed looks of tension, caution, and interest. Some of the people passing glanced at their entire group strangely.

Tokoyami stood up straighter when Bakugo poked him again — right between the shoulder blades where Dark Shadow emanated from. Dark Shadow bristled, but didn't cut in.

Bakugo's prodding hurt, though. He was probably being too rough on purpose.

"You gotta do this right, if the whole goal is to be a magnet using your god damned sex appeal. Walk out there like you mean it, aAH? Swagger! Pull your pants even lower! You're never gonna be number one if you can't swagger, Feather Face. And you — Quirk Thing." Bakugo spun.

Tokoyami grunted. Dark Shadow huffed.

"Look more badass," Bakugo said. "Look _boss._ Don't just fucking cower. I've seen the shit that you can do — so fuckin' get all imposing, like you're about to kill someone!"

Dark Shadow contemplated that a moment. Then he narrowed his eyebrows and rose a bit taller.

"Yeah, that's it. Show me those teeth. And oy. Oy, oy, oy... Half-and-Half." Bakugo turned, his hands twitching, a little crackle coming out of his palms... but thankfully, no explosions.

Todoroki managed not to appear fazed that Bakugo was firing off orders, never mind close to firing his Quirk... or acting like an expert on how to lure in women using sex appeal. All he did was step forward when Bakugo addressed him.

"Wipe that dead-ugly blank stare off your face and be the cocky shit I know you hide inside you. Are you Tokoyami's escort wingman, or not?"

Tokoyami blinked at hearing Bakugo actually refer to him by his name. He breathed a laugh under his breath, feeling his jaw loosen and take some of the tension out of his clenched beak.

Bakugo had somehow gotten truly invested in this. Somehow, it calmed Tokoyami down. Maybe they all would be okay.

Kirishima made a fist, appearing like he might burst into tears of pride. " _I_ bequeathed him with my wingman know-how; that's how Bakugo knows all these things... He's not afraid to learn from me and share the knowledge! So manly!"

Bakugo didn't seem to hear. He still growled in Todoroki's face — despite that Todoroki had placed a hand delicately on Bakugo's chest in an attempt to ward him off. "Be the support role, you got it? _Strut_ , bitch!" Bakugo knocked Todoroki's hand aside. "Be the eye candy you're supposed to be, while Bird Brain is the boss everyone wants. Haven't you seen badasses in movies? They always have women hanging off their arms. You're the woman. Play the part or I'll explode your ass right into tomorrow."

"K-Kacchan," Midoriya said.

"Die."

Tokoyami considered Bakugo's instructions. Would they work, or was Bakugo completely off?

Todoroki considered too, his expression unreadable. "So I'm supposed to rely on my appeal to somehow enhance his, by clinging to him?"

"That's right, shit-stick. Use that half brain of yours."

"I have a full brain, and I am using it. And I see an obvious problem with the dynamic you're attempting to set up."

"You need to go _die_ after this, dynamically, and involving dynamite — is that the part I overlooked?!"

Todoroki said, "I'm taller. Doesn't that make _him_ the woman?"

Tokoyami did nothing a moment. Midoriya whimpered, Kirishima sighed. Then, with the feathers one on eyebrow twitching, Tokoyami said to Todoroki coolly, "I thought we were friends. There's no need to call attention to my lack of height."

Did the heels on the boots he wore count for nothing? Or would citing those now only give Todoroki further reason to compare Tokoyami to a woman?

" _But why? Why are we learning how to look gay,"_ Dark Shadow wailed into his wing feathers, _"when all I want to do is find and talk more to that pretty canary female?"_

Tokoyami petted Dark Shadow's head, fixing his group with a glare he hoped appeared superior. "Are you all happy now with what you've caused? You aren't helping this one bit."

" _He's right. I'm even less likely to behave if I'm feeling so frustrated..."_

"Dark Shadow," Iida bowed. Then he bowed again. "We are incredibly sorry!"

" _Then further groveling — do it, or I will never be appeased, mortal."_

Tokoyami snorted and let Dark Shadow say what he wished.

Bakugo tossed his hands into the air, then shoved them inside his pockets and walked off. "Just hold hands or something, you fucks, and make people do doubletakes. Fake it! That's all Naked Girl meant when she said 'Escort him.' Chicks collapse for that sort of show — even if it's entirely empty. _Let's go._ "

The rest of them hesitated, but one by one began to trail after him. Tokoyami moved first, grateful to be moving at last.

"These are things," Iida muttered, walking near Tokoyami's side, "that I never needed to know about how to manipulate teenage hormones..."

"Get looking for Bird Girl," Bakugo snapped.

It seemed that Bakugo had chosen to take his leadership role seriously. Every time they came to a crosswalk, Bakugo checked around them warily — although for the canary girl or for Villains, Tokoyami couldn't tell.

Midoriya scampered up beside Bakugo as they found the main street of the southeastern section of the shopping district. "K-Kacchan, I think you shouldn't walk up front alone. If-if anything happened to you again, I..."

It was difficult for Tokoyami to make out Bakugo's growled reply, for the traffic sounds had grown loud now, and he was also busy looking around. "Deku... can't you keep it in your pants long enough to quit all your damn clinging to me?"

Iida and Kirishima moved up toward the two childhood friends after a time, to divert what looked and sounded like the newest burgeoning argument.

That left Tokoyami and Todoroki in back together. Alone. And indeed, women started glancing at them, despite that they weren't even touching. Maybe Hakagure's insistence that she knew what girls liked wasn't wrong.

They walked in silence for a stretch. Dark Shadow did his best to help Tokoyami look all around. _"So many people, and such daylight. My eyes..."_ Every yellow glimpse of hair, of fabric, of posters and signs turned their heads.

Todoroki was looking too, but he also appeared to be on high alert. For Villains, like Bakugo looked out for them? Or maybe Todoroki was trying to look extra busy with the canary search so he wouldn't look at Tokoyami instead.

Two school girls walked past them. They covered their mouths, squealed, and giggled. But neither of them was the girl that Tokoyami most wanted. He sighed. Then he said to Dark Shadow, "Don't forget to keep looking imposing."

Dark Shadow nodded, spreading his wings over Tokoyami's back in his attempt to appear like part of Tokoyami's ensemble. From the corner of his eye, Tokoyami noticed the action make Todoroki twitch.

"Do we need to talk?" Tokoyami asked, suddenly feeling twice as tense. The people on the street who stared at him and admired him now were one thing... but for how long was he expected to let Todoroki's awkward attraction slide without comment?

Dark Shadow's wing prodded him at once, as if Dark Shadow thought Tokoyami was rude. Tokoyami reassessed his thoughts, followed by examining his cool attitude. Was he getting too cocky and distant, now that his whole class had agreed he looked appealing, worth being attracted to? Tokoyami should still be feeling humble, perhaps, grateful that he had aroused any interest at all — that he had become worth something to _anyone_ , desirable to anyone despite that he had a bird's beak, and bird beaks couldn't give kisses. Todoroki's approval meant something to him, didn't it?

It had in the beginning. It did still. So he shouldn't be mad Todoroki admired him. Just because Tokoyami couldn't say for sure whether Todoroki's interest pleased him on a... a romantic level, that didn't mean he should give Todoroki the cold shoulder.

"Talk?" Todoroki asked, hoarse.

Tokoyami gestured vaguely between them. "About this."

A low breath under the traffic noise. "Ah."

Tokoyami wished he could ask Midoriya how one was supposed to remain collected when it came to the topic of boys liking boys. The whole idea had until recently existed only on the periphery of Tokoyami's interest area. There wasn't anything wrong with boys liking boys. But how could he expect himself to manage exploring the idea now? All Tokoyami _really_ wanted was the chance to find his pretty girl. Not all of these other things — these strains of tension everywhere, making his life complicated. These kinds of tangled possibilities he'd never entertained before were too overwhelmingly heavy to even come to table at his inner banquet of darkness.

Todoroki started to speak, then stopped before any real words could come out. Tokoyami watched him look momentarily at a girl's pair of yellow Quirk horns across the street, then back when he realized they weren't feathers. His mismatched eyes flicked from where Dark Shadow appeared to be giving Tokoyami wings, to Tokoyami's oiled beak, to the glimmer of color around his eye feathers, to the crystal studded velvet choker, and down his body, along all his edgy and form-fitting clothes.

Tokoyami felt as if the look were practically a touch — startling, but at least not smarmy.

The fingers of Todoroki's left hand curled without his seeming to notice it. But Tokoyami certainly noticed it. "I'm your escort," Todoroki said. "However, I think Bakugo was wrong about me serving as the eye candy. I think you're the eye candy now."

"Yes, I noticed you think that."

Todoroki became quick to finish, pulling his eyes away again. "But I didn't — and I don't — intend to do anything about it."

And Todoroki then began searching out more yellow objects to squint at.

The conversation seemed to be over. But after another moment, Todoroki sought to confirm.

"You aren't interested. Right?"

"Right," Tokoyami told him. He tried his best not to make it sound too curt or too completely dismissive.

Dark Shadow chimed in at that. _"Or... it's that Fumikage has never quite thought far enough to_ decide _if there's interest in people like you — because he's always assumed we'll be alone. And then came the canary girl to make the decision for him. Where do you think she could be? I miss her."_

Todoroki seemed to reflect on that, while Tokoyami told Dark Shadow to hush. A few more cars and business people passed by. Up ahead of them, Kirishima was thumping Bakugo on the back and laughing. Then Todoroki took the rejection that he had received smoothly — as expected from a student who was always blunt himself.

"It's better this way, probably. Yaoyorozu wouldn't be pleased otherwise. And my father... would probably burn me alive. Or maybe he'd disown me." Todoroki's left hand fingers curled again... and he looked down at the heat-limb. "Although, maybe disownment wouldn't be so bad. I wouldn't have to have him as my old man."

Tokoyami cleared his throat, flustered. Was this attraction of Todoroki's going to cause even more tension than Tokoyami had originally worried? Endeavor couldn't be easy to have as a father. And Yaoyorozu... Tokoyami didn't want to be the source of such conflicts.

Bakugo led them around a corner up ahead, jerking his chin to indicate that a gaggle of people came out from a nearby theatre... and that they should scan that crowd, too, for the girl.

Tokoyami did so, then asked, "Are you and Yaoyorozu involved with each other, or have you been?" He scanned the theatre crowd _twice_. He saw not one canary head.

"No. But I know she wants to be. She came up to me yesterday and said, 'I had half a chance at a success — at you returning my feelings — but I am going to lose the game for your interest to the opposite gender half of your preferences, aren't I?' I didn't know what to tell her. She's nice. It's sad to see her so upset."

Tokoyami merely stared. So Todoroki was bisexual, and Yaoyorozu considered his preference split down the middle — like his hair and his Quirk. And it gave Todoroki some trouble.

He'd never heard Todoroki Shoto open up in conversation like this. Was this what it meant, finally having friends? Having to hear the painful details about their inner darknesses and struggles... and then feel utterly helpless about what to do about it? Did Iida and Midoriya see this version of Todoroki as well?

Most days, Tokoyami couldn't even manage the deep well of angst inside himself. Having friends, he reflected, and being able to act like a friend back to them... It might be a blessing and a burden that he had to work up to.

Should he start by comforting Todoroki somehow? By offering some advice? But what?

" _Apologize, and then go out with her,"_ Dark Shadow suggested helpfully.

"Let's stop talking about me," Todoroki replied.

Rarely had Tokoyami had the opportunity to see a smirk — even a humorless, wry one — crawl up Todoroki's handsome face. But soon enough, the smirk was gone — because Bakugo again checked back on them... and delivered Todoroki a rude gesture.

Tokoyami looked around again, but didn't see the girl.

"We're not making any headway." Todoroki put his hands in his pockets. "We're almost at the original place where you saw this canary person, right? We need to try something else — other than just mindlessly circling."

"But nothing that would bring too much attention," Tokoyami replied carefully. Hakagure and the other girls could talk about magnets as much as they wanted... but now even Midoriya was making wary backward-glancing motions. Had he stopped believing the teacher rear guard would be able to rescue them if Villains found them?

"Do you have a Plan B?" Todoroki said.

Dark Shadow answered for him. _"No. It's like a needle in a haystack."_

"Let's go ask the others if they have any more ideas, then."

They picked up their pace to catch the other four. Tokoyami still thought the answer was to cover a lot of ground, and hope maybe coincidence and good eyesight would result in locating their target.

As they rejoined the group, Todoroki raised a hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun and said, "I thought at least maybe you would have a bird call..."

Dark Shadow snorted. Tokoyami rolled his eyes and prepared to make some kind of come-back. But then he felt Dark Shadow freeze, as if from an epiphany.

Then, while Iida's eyes widened behind his glasses and Kirishima said, "Whoa. Dude," Dark Shadow increased his size. He fairly leapt out of Tokoyami's body.

It was so sudden, all the other students backed away from him. The sentient Quirk rose above the crowd, sucked in a deep breath, and _roared_ — a low, warbling rumble that shook the windows of the nearby stores until they cracked.

Even Tokoyami had no choice but to cover his ears.

Afterward, the street fell dead silent. Even the cars had all screeched to a halt. One vehicle smoked at its back tires.

And every single person stared. And some weren't _standing_ any more.

A dry voice broke the silence, thread-thin, but audible nonetheless through the after-buzz of Dark Shadow's roar. "That wasn't what I had in mind."

It was Todoroki — who leaned against a mailbox as he tried to regain his balance. The ground in the place he'd been must have shaken from the sound waves.

Iida had fallen on his butt.

Tokoyami stood frozen to his spot, certain the police would come swarming in next — and arrest him for illegal use of his Quirk. H-had anyone been hurt?

Midoriya swayed, brow crinkled, with his face inside his palm... and the green lightning flares of his Quirk indicating he'd used his power to remain on two feet without support. Iida was struggling up now, making flapping movements of his lips and his arms, but without succeeding at making a sound.

Clearly there would be deep repercussions. How could Tokoyami fix this, before—?

Bakugo broke the silence next. "But THAT was what I call 'badass.'"

Tokoyami froze, pulse racing. It wasn't what the crowd needed to hear that moment... and he knew it.

Maybe Bakugo's lethal and insane grin was what made everything devolve. In any case, someone with a stroller screamed. And then all the screams sounded off one by one, like fireworks beginning on New Year's.

Two children began fleeing. A shop owner hollered that someone needed to call in the Pro Heroes. A woman pointed at Dark Shadow, sheet white. "What are you? What do you want with us!"

"Dark Shadow..." Tokoyami stood shaking.

" _What?"_ Dark Shadow asked innocently, under the sound of the panic — like he hadn't created the mess at all. _"That was my attention-getting bird call!"_

Dark Shadow looked all around, meeting the eyes of as many people as he could. They gazed at him in frigid fear... or ran around like helpless rabbits who didn't know how to reach their warren.

" _We're looking for a pretty girl with a head like a canary. She's yellow, and her eyes are very pretty, all black and beady like marbles..."_

* * *

 **Author Note:** _Next chapter will be up next week!_


	4. Let's Make An Opening!

" _We're looking for a girl with a head like a canary. She's yellow, and her eyes are very pretty, all black and beady like marbles..."_

Todoroki seized Tokoyami's forearm when Tokoyami remained too stunned to move. "We have to leave from this vicinity." He pulled, his grip as equally as strained as his tone, as Dark Shadow kept giving his description — and at the top of his shadowy lungs. "Dark Shadow has to come if you do, right? If we don't go, we'll probably—"

A boom sounded just to their left.

When Tokoyami looked over, a person-sized crater replaced part of where the road had used to be. And someone large and muscular appeared to be crouched inside it.

Had the League of Villains come to take advantage of the chaos already?

Midoriya sprang into action at once. "Tokoyami-kun," he said, "Get behind m— Get behind... ah, wh-what's...?" Midoriya's jaw seemed to drop.

Dust and debris rose around whoever had dropped into the crater, as they slowly stood from their landing position. And then a world-famous voice echoed off all of the buildings.

"I sensed a disturbance, so I came as quickly as I could!"

Midoriya yelped. "A-All Might?!"

Some people paused. Exclamations. _All Might?_

The dust cleared. The UA teacher wore the suit he taught in during school hours. He swiped a hand across the back of his mouth and breathed harder than usual... but he stood in his muscled form.

Tokoyami's eyes went wide, and Todoroki stopped dragging him at once.

All Might had been nearby the whole time? Had he been a part of their teacher rear guard?

Wasn't he still recovering after his fight in Kamino?

All Might probably thought Dark Shadow's roar had meant a threat somewhere. And maybe now, thanks to the roar drawing so much attention... it did. Was Tokoyami going to get All Might killed, by making All Might come here in this chaos?

His blood began to feel like ice. Or maybe the cold was Todoroki reacting beside him, losing track of his ice Quirk, realizing the same possibility Tokoyami did. That this situation might become much worse.

"It's all right now, everyone, because I'm—" All Might's muscle form deflated. He lapsed into a seizing cough, and blood shot onto the sidewalk.

Two figures whizzed past Tokoyami before Tokoyami could think to move — and which two became obvious, instantly.

They left a breeze in their wake that disturbed Tokoyami's feathers and made glitter fly everywhere.

"All Might... didn't I tell you when I almost dropped a rock on your damn head — quit dicking around if you're like this!" Bakugo shoved someone aside, catching All Might under the arm to hold him up. Still, the man nearly collapsed... while Midoriya caught him under the other arm, just as quickly.

Midoriya's face looked hard. "Let's help him get to the bench there, Kacchan!"

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!"

All Might wore a tense smile. Tokoyami could him from where he'd stayed across the street. "Bakugo-shounen, Midoriya-shounen... you're making me look even weaker than I really am; it's embarrassing."

"Shut it, All Might," Bakugo snarled, half-dragging the retired pro Hero to the bench Midoriya had indicated.

Tokoyami stared at the spectacle until he sensed new motion all around them. People started to mill even more, to exclaim, to dart excited and confused glances everywhere.

And then they started to ask questions and take out phones to take photos.

Todoroki let go of Tokoyami's arm. He waved both hands in front of his body, shielding Tokoyami as well. "Nothing to see here, really..." If they ended up online, posted about, location included... then he League of Villains would just find them faster.

Todoroki began to edge both Tokoyami and Iida across the street toward All Might after that.

Was the goal to hide behind All Might, and let All Might take the attention of the cameras? Or to defend All Might from possible doom? Either way, if they were recognized right now as UA students... any chance at their safety was over.

"We should help Bakugo-kun and Midoriya-kun to get All Might out of here," Iida exclaimed. "And then I'm certain the teachers guarding us from the rear will come control this mess."

"It definitely is becoming that," Todoroki said, as the press of people trying to flee or get a glimpse of All Might shoved him into Tokoyami. "Sorry," Todoroki delivered bluntly... as he ended up pinning Tokoyami to an idling car with his weight.

Tokoyami found his beak tucked against Todoroki's heating left shoulder. Clearly Todoroki was fighting not to resort to his Quirk... "Mmffgh!"

" _I didn't mean it to go quite this far,"_ Dark Shadow said miserably. Now he took the size of a field mouse, hiding near Tokoyami's head.

Tokoyami ignored his sentient Quirk and untangled himself from Todoroki. Then he heard All Might's voice near him. "Tokoyami-shounen! Are you in some terrible distress? As soon as I catch my breath, I'll rectify—"

"You're one to talk about distress, All Might." Bakugo came into view, leading All Might to the car to meet up with the rest of them. Midoriya preceded them, trying to clear people away. Both Bakugo and Midoriya had realized they should try to form one tight-knit group for safety, then. "For fuck's sake, I hate it when so many people lose their shit! And where the hell is Shitty Hair? Fine time for him to disappear..."

Tokoyami looked around. So did Iida, who certainly felt responsible for Group C as president of their class.

But Kirishima was nowhere.

"Are we allowed to use our Quirks, All Might?" Todoroki gritted his teeth as he asked. He probably wanted to make an ice wall to protect them from the masses. And maybe it would signal Kirishima about where they were, so Kirishima could meet back with them.

All Might finally reached them. Bakugo released him, cursing.

The Hero clapped Tokoyami on the shoulder, while answering Todoroki too brightly. "Ah ha ha! This isn't a dire situation yet! Onward, young heroes! All we have to do is reach the inside of a quiet café, and everything will be okay."

"Easy for you to fucking say!" Now Bakugo had someone close to his face with a microphone, trying to get a statement about UA's latest safety measures.

Midoriya said, "Let's make an opening!"

As one clump of harassed students and their teacher, with _excuse me_ s and _everything will be okay_ s, they all started to forge their way away from the car and toward an alley.

Yes, Tokoyami thought. Good. An Alley. Those tended to be secluded and dim. Maybe once they were there, he could get Dark Shadow to—

That was when Tokoyami caught a flash of red in the corner of his eye... and the vision of golden yellow head feathers hurtling closer after it.

His plotting died. Kirishima bounded up to their group — dragging the canary girl by the hand. He let out a note of surprise.

But how? It should have been impossible to have find her in this mess... shouldn't it? She... she'd been here, after all? At the same day, the same time? What were the chances?

Dark Shadow quivered. _"She's here!"_

Tokoyami ignored his Quirk. Wasn't something about this, Tokoyami thought — in the back of his brain where his pure instinct lived — a little too convenient? He'd wanted more than anything to hope, and be able to find her, but—

"Is that your...?" Todoroki stared.

Kirishima — with a whoop — fumbled into the center of their defensive knot, panting, the girl clutched tightly at his side.

And she was chirping wildly.

Tokoyami had frozen. But now, belatedly attempting to keep up with their group's slow forward press, he tripped over an old man's cane... while the old man tried to ward Dark Shadow away like some malicious curse-being.

His head spun. For whatever reason... his canary girl was here.

"I found her!" Kirishima cried. He began to help them push the crowds away with his free arm, taking the spot beside Bakugo. "I saw her peeping out, not too far off! Iida would have been faster to catch her, but there just wasn't that much time. She looked about to run, and so..." Kirishima glanced at the girl. She chirped and flapped her free arm insanely, struggling to pull away. "I tried to explain that we wouldn't hurt her, but all she did was tweet at me. Dark Shadow... I think her fear is your fault. You were yelling about her way too loud."

Tokoyami opened his beak to agree, but Dark Shadow swelled before him.

For a moment, their emotions washed each into each other — and Tokoyami sagged, rendered breathless. St-stupid... sentient damn Quirk...

Dark Shadow wasn't even _trying_ to control his glee at the canary girl's arrival. But now wasn't the time for it. People from buildings fled into the streets, fearing attacks on the building structures... And why was that? Tokoyami didn't know. Maybe they'd heard Dark Shadow from in there, seen his wings, and feared he would fly up to bring the very buildings down. In any case, Group C's priority was safety and control of the situation, now. Not the crush Tokoyami and Dark Shadow had on—

" _At last,"_ Dark Shadow rumbled terribly. His eyes narrowed in pleasure, like a dragon's or a jungle cat's.

Everybody around him screamed.

The canary girl reacted especially badly. Her beady eyes filled up with tears, her beak squeaked protest violently, and all of the feathers on her head stood up high. Even her legs kicked from under her skirt — which forced Kirishima to jump away... and crash into Bakugo hard from behind, in the moment Bakugo turned to bend and duck a stray projectile.

"Damn it all, Kirishimaaaa— I'm not _that_ happy to see you!"

"You seriously are, though, right? But... for real, actually, Bakugo... do you think you could you help me to hold this girl still?"

Bakugo didn't react, busy as he was with swearing at somebody's camera and a wailing child, now. And Tokoyami reacted too late, busy struggling to keep Dark Shadow's grasping wings away from those gleaming gold feathers.

Kirishima lost his balance again, as the canary girl grew cunning in her thrashing. She fought the grip Kirishima kept clamped to her wrist. "I can't let you go!" Kirishima told her. "I'm sorry, but my friend's Quirk depends on you! Say something, Tokoyami, can't you?"

Tokoyami didn't _know_ what to say. This meeting... this reunion with the girl of his dreams... This was going terribly.

The mortified, wild bird chirping increased.

"C-Canary-shoujo," All Might said from the middle of their group, making a calming gesture with his hands. "It's okay, because I am here! That absolutely won't happen to you — I swear it as retired number one Hero."

"What won't happen?" Midoriya asked. He wriggled, pressed on Tokoyami's other side.

Tokoyami forced himself to swallow his fear and keep fighting his Quirk.

" _Just let me touch her feathers!"_

"No! Have some _decency,_ Dark Shadow. You and I are better than this!"

Todoroki steamed in earnest. "If All Might would just let me, Tokoyami... I could put Dark Shadow away with firelight."

"No," Tokoyami rasped, his chest heaving. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what on earth he looked like now... ragged in the outfit of his makeover. And what would Todoroki think of him once all this was over? "He's... he's my responsibility. What good am I if I can't manage him?"

Dark Shadow snapped irritably. But if they could just get through this crowd... Tokoyami could figure out how to calm down both his Quirk and the canary girl. The alley would be darker, and—

Midoriya's voice dropped low, to the register that made him seem the most like a Hero, always. "All Might... this is getting out of control... People... are going to say things about an incident like this being terrible for public morale. Please... let me go Full Cowl! I'll be careful of my arms and use Shoot Style!"

When Tokoyami glanced over, he found Midoriya grinning — something somewhat forced-looking, but brave.

All Might only flashed them all a thumbs up. "I know you'd especially be careful not to hurt anyone or yourself, Midoriya-shounen... but go beyond your limits, all of you, and hold out a little longer! You there, young man— excuse us, please!" All Might directed them through more people.

"The shop window over there just broke," Todoroki murmured suddenly. Tokoyami seemed to be the only person that could hear. "I think the petty Villains have come out at last, to take advantage of this."

Bakugo roared, and both his hands crackled.

Kirishima said, "Can't I use my hardening to hold her _still_ better, at least?"

" _Don't you dare,"_ said Dark Shadow. _"That isn't chivalrous at all. She is mine, and you won't lay a scratch on her."_

"F-forgive me," said Tokoyami. But who was he speaking to? Not to Dark Shadow. Partly to Kirishima for Dark Shadow's behavior, partly to the girl whose beady eyes caught his in that moment. He felt like he wanted to cry frustrated tears full of soul-black sludge and blood. He rallied once more, however, hoping against all odds that he could handle this like a Hero. "Dark Shadow!"

" _No, don't distract me from her!"_

Their group took another few steps toward the alley they hoped would lead to their freedom. Tokoyami wondered what the teachers who'd been guarding them were doing. Why weren't they here yet to help? Were they busy neutralizing Villains somewhere? Or was All Might the only teacher who'd been watching their group from the start?

No, UA should have known better than that. Unless Bakugo had been right, and somehow... they were being used here as bait. Maybe even All Might was bait. But why? Why would the school dare risk that?

The situation wasn't right, no matter how he looked at it.

Kirishima still had hold of the girl... but Tokoyami sensed she'd get more frantic the farther from the crowd they got. And if _he_ tried to take her by the hand instead of letting Kirishima hold her... certainly they would all be doomed.

She might just peck out all their eyes.

All Might was still talking to them. "In any case, it's all right you young ones couldn't hear what she said under the racket. Her word choice wasn't for well-behaved ears... possibly not even your more tainted ones, Bakugo-shounen. Yes, shoujo— that's correct, it was rude, so stop looking at me like that. We're on your side. Tokoyami-shounen, if you would like to calm her, by discussing—"

"He _can't_ ," Bakugo hollered. "Everyone one of us heard her, but we don't understand her jibberish!"

A noise interrupted them for a moment, something much louder than the chaos on the street — the _whump, whump, whump_ of helicopter blades. Here came the press in the air above them.

Bakugo snarled then, desperate. "All her distress sounds like to us is god damn high-pitched quacks, All Might! So why don't you start _translating,_ if you can make out her meaning? Forget about our virgin ears... Shitty Hair especially's a slut, anyway."

Kirishima tightened his grip on the canary girl and whirled. "I thought _you_ were the whore of the class who couldn't be fazed with vulgar talk? You wear your V-necks awfully low and have a pretty dirty mouth..." Then, for some reason, Kirishima chuckled, shrugged his shoulders, and added, "But damn, getting all fired up about this stuff now, in this situation... it's kinda manly. Lay into me more — and I'll get us all out of here in no time."

A group was closing in on them. The police force had arrived.

Finally. But was that good for them, or bad?

Tokoyami saw All Might glance at the police as well. But what did the pro Hero — retired pro Hero — intend to do? Were Tokoyami and the others going to be arrested for Dark Shadow's behavior, or were the police here to quell the shopping district's riot? Either way... at least if the police moved closer, it would disperse the crowd near them. If anything, All Might should be hailing the police force — for help, and to explain their situation.

But All Might, for some reason, wasn't gesturing to them at all. Or looking toward the police whatsoever after a moment more. In fact, All Might seemed to be ignoring them. And even edging more _away_ from them. It felt to Tokoyami like All Might tried deliberately to avoid them.

But that didn't make sense.

Dark Shadow's certainty wavered as well. The sentient Quirk had clearly expected the police to be directed toward them.

Just then, someone nearby used their Quirk illegally to make some light — great, floating blue orbs of the stuff. Dark Shadow faltered some more... and Tokoyami seized his opportunity.

He fixed a death-hold on the will of his sentient Quirk — without mercy.

" _OW — all right, all right— I'll stop! I'll leave her alone for now and let you woo her when there's time. I'm sorry! Just make sure she doesn't run!"_

Tokoyami's heart raced, and he panted at the exertion. "Behave, or I'll lock you away for whole days, even if it will hurt me, too." As for the matter of the police, he simply had to know. "All Might—"

"So, you like hearing my dirty talk?" Bakugo's growl cut Tokoyami off.

Bakugo continued to banter with Kirishima. He was replying to Kirishima's comment about getting fired up? Even at a time like this? Yet... Bakugo picked up his forward momentum. He kept his focus despite it, steering their little knot of people twice as skillfully.

Leading. And still looking out for All Might. Maybe, because of the banter, now he had even _more_ focus?

"Like there's time for your kinks, asshole! I'll fucking explode your favorite limb off, if you keep acting gay at me!"

Kirishima cracked up. "My favorite limb? That sounds like you mean my—"

"Don't I tell Deku all the time—"

"Kacchan, don't you dare involve me! More importantly— M-more _importantly_ —"

Bakugo finished his previous thought. "—I'm not at school to screw around! My fucking old hag would kill me! I'm too busy being _number one in the class_ to care what gets all you freaks off!"

Instead of listen to this — as the alleyway drew closer too slowly — Tokoyami almost wished to be grappling Dark Shadow over again. As it was, he merely twitched when Dark Shadow sniffed back his tears and said, _"Your classmates... they're amazing."_

Amazing? No. More like embarrassing. Ludicrous — even as they battled their way as one toward the alleyway powerfully. And, considering that Tokoyami was the one dressed in makeup, and glitter, and heels...

What kind of impression would this give to the girl Tokoyami so wished to soothe, to talk to as best as he could, to impress? The canary girl stumbled along with them, tweeting fitfully... and Tokoyami's heart wrenched.

The battle without Quirks increased. And much worse, the chatter went on.

"Kacchan. I said don't involve me! I'm not trying to be dirty at school!"

"Since when did you grow the balls to challenge me? Make me shut up if you want it, Deku. _Beg_ me with that flushing face you usually try to— aAH? The fuck…." Bakugo hefted upward a small child that hiccuped, cried, and blocked their path. He shifted it aside, plopping it down, then moved forward, still berating Midoriya. "You fucking shit-stick..."

"Bakugo," said Todoroki — in Tokoyami's opinion, too late. "All this is getting recorded on different people's cameras. Not to mention... that was just a child."

"So what? I was cussing by age fucking two! And like _you_ had a normal childhood with Endeavor, asshole!"

All Might had clapped a hand over his face. "Think, Toshinori... you have to think! You cannot let your students go haywire. Y-young men," All Might put on an extra deep, heroic voice. "Any more talk of this kind when there is an objective we need to reach—"

"All Might, no one is taking this seriously except for you and shitty damn Deku. The rest of us are just keeping up morale by screwing around with smack talk. Keep moving; it doesn't mean anything."

Bakugo could say that if he wanted. But Iida, silent this whole time... Iida looked _very_ serious. And seriously low on his morale — like all the chatter must mean something to _him_. It made Tokoyami nervous. Iida stoically plowed on, his arms and his hands chopping them a path — but he appeared to be boiling slowly.

Tokoyami couldn't blame the class president if the banter bothered him. But, like the class president, he did his best to hold his tongue. No use adding to the situation.

There came a lull in their conversation, as everyone continued to keep pressing forward. Midoriya grasped opportunity. "More importantly, in terms of our objective, and what Kacchan said before..."

Tokoyami glanced at him. Midoriya's eyes lit up like emerald gemstones from within.

Tokoyami faltered. He knew — from that wobbly-smiled look — what must be coming. And they didn't have time for it. Did they? No. That would be worse than Bakugo's bad jokes.

"Midoriya," Todoroki said. "Don't. Not right here and right now."

"But I can't help it." Midoriya squirmed. His eyes lit up like Christmas — and when he stopped, the whole group had to stop, too. "It's so cool! You can understand bird noises, All Might?!"

"That's what I fucking _said_ , Deku..." Bakugo batted somebody's whipping tail or tentacle aside. The riot had gotten worse.

"Yeah, but it's... it's— and you're right! If All Might can just translate her—!"

Tokoyami could have screeched. Was this really the time for a fanboy moment?

If All Might could translate, then they should give All Might a moment to do it!

"You know how to understand Bird!" Midoriya was trembling. He forgot to block another projectile... and instead, Todoroki had to do it. With ice. All Might didn't notice the use of the Quirk. "How did you learn to translate it, All Might? When? Aaah, I can't believe I didn't know! Was it when you went undercover that time, to root out the Hawk Gang, and you fought the famous Bald Eagle?"

"Midoriya," Kirishima's chest heaved. "Keep it... in your pants... until we reach the stupid alleyway!"

"What is it," Iida Tenya finally cracked, shouting at the top of his lungs, "with all of you and your homoerotic penis jokes!" The shout echoed over their heads, temporarily blocking out the helicopter _whumps_ and the barking orders of the police.

And then the chaos fizzled out, as if Iida's fury and force of will called it all to a massive halt.

They made it to the safety of the narrow space and the tall building walls of the alleyway they had aimed for. Iida, his whole body quaking, manhandled everyone except All Might deep into the shadows of the space — with a look across his features black enough to rival the caves Tokoyami trained in.

Tokoyami had never seen him mad before.

"Tokoyami-kun!" Iida's glasses glinted. "Command Dark Shadow this instant to defend the entrance of this alleyway, while we move to the back of it. Do not lose your control of him. And so help me, the rest of you... I will Recipro-Burst your filthy mouths into the pavement, if you continue so shamelessly to slander what it means to be a student of UA in this deadly serious situation! Have _none_ of you basic respect or restraint in terms of presenting yourselves? And are all of you too thick-headed — or swollen below belt level now — to put your brains to use and realize _there are now Villains about?_ "

"Iida," Todoroki ventured calmly, while everyone else seemed too stunned to respond, "I didn't know you could smack-talk also."

Iida stalked past where Tokoyami gave Dark Shadow directions. "Do not test me right now, Todoroki-kun! My respect for you is infinite, but if you think I am not capable of making an example of you... And you two— Kirishima-kun, Bakugo-kun! How terribly disappointed I am in you!"

"Whoa," Kirishima said to Bakugo — from where Iida had flung them both into the dark. "That actually kind of hurts. I think you went too far with your shit, Baku-bro."

"The fuck?! Wasn't _me_ — it was you!"

Kirishima had lost hold of the canary girl... but Tokoyami saw, in great relief, that Midoriya now held her by the hand, a ways away from where everybody else yelled. And he was telling her something kindly, softly. Beside Midoriya, All Might seemed to be translating whatever she chirped back at him. Tokoyami calmed at last, washed in a wave of gratitude.

"Hold the mouth of the alley no matter what," he told Dark Shadow. "Something still isn't right here... but there's something I need to do before I try to deal with it."

Dark Shadow sighed. _"Yes, whatever you say... Just please do what you know I want the most, Fumikage. Please... won't you try to?"_

Tokoyami would — because he wanted it badly, too.

He walked toward Midoriya and All Might. But he stopped when he realized that, if he neared any further, he would finally, finally have to confront the person he'd wanted to see. All this time, he'd wanted it. All this time...

But now he was _scared_ to.

Dark Shadow was right to resort to begging, to worrying Tokoyami wouldn't achieve their goal in the end. He took a deep breath, head spinning. Was he brave enough to do this?

All Might wiped sweat off his forehead, beckoning Tokoyami closer. Slowly, Tokoyami went. "In the chaos, I didn't quite register which language she was speaking, and that the rest of you wouldn't be able to translate. I can't speak back in Bird to her, but it seems she understands our human speech, and thus I can help with this situation."

The canary girl's head bounced. _Cheep, cheep._

"'Bout fucking time," Bakugo rasped.

But Tokoyami didn't care about any of the rest of his classmates or what they thought of bird speak now. There was something important he needed for All Might to translate.

If only he could just get himself to speak, and then wait to hear her answer.

"All Might," Tokoyami finally said, too shy to look at the bright golden head of the girl who had brought him this far. "Please translate... please translate her reply back to me... after I ask her... whether she'll..."

"Take it slowly if you have to, Tokoyami-shounen— it's going to be all right."

"You can do it, Tokoyami-kun," Midoriya said enthusiastically.

Tokoyami took a breath, then fixed his eyes on the beautiful girl. "I didn't mean you any harm. My Quirk is just a bit scary. I've wanted to find you again, ever since you first chirped at me." The girl peered up at him, blinking. Tokoyami tried not to waver with those lustrous, beady eyes focused on him. "I understand if at this point you want nothing to do with me. But if you're not busy right now... would you like to make friends, and talk a bit over lunch with me?"

* * *

 **Author Note:** _Next chapter will be up next week._


	5. Finally, A Date! Except

The café decor was bird themed. The food smelled deliciously robust and looked handmade, homespun with care. The pastries he had ordered came sprinkled with varieties of bird seeds, and the waitress hadn't even given their bird heads a second glance. Additionally, the place was — as far as Tokoyami was concerned, at least — empty entirely, which was a plus.

It would have been a perfect date to get to know somebody new, had it not been for a number of strange points. Mostly the point of 'emptiness.'

"You're taking up the whole seat, Half-and-Half! Sit on the booth's damn other side!"

Bakugo and Todoroki occupied a table, half the café's length away — supposedly guarding the entrance of the venue without interfering in Tokoyami's date.

Except that Tokoyami could hear them from even from this distance, and as clear as day. Trying to convince himself they weren't present wouldn't work any more, he felt forced to admit.

"I can't _see_ from that side," said Todoroki. "And I'm not taking up any more space than my half of this bench allows. It's that you can't keep your legs closed."

"What the _shit_ areyou implying?!"

"That your manners— oof!—" A smack sounded. The two of them were fighting, now. "—suck as hard as you do, Bakugo... if you really need me to put it in language I think you might understand..."

The canary girl — Dorada — Tokoyami had finally learned her last name — cocked her head and turned around, hearing the scuffle that ensued.

And that was the beginning of the end of Tokoyami's tenuous patience.

Over the top of Dorada's feathers, he shot the two provisional license test failures a dagger glare that they could not ignore even to save their lives. He was _angry,_ and he'd have them know it. He would threaten them with Dark Shadow's retribution, if that was what it needed to come to.

Todoroki Shoto stilled — with his right hand tangled in Bakugo's hair, and his knee between Bakugo's legs, in the process of moving Bakugo _physically_ onto just one half of the bench. While Bakugo seized his moment from below, aiming to crush Todoroki's groin with his shin... Todoroki removed his other hand from its position throttling Bakugo's throat and used it to halt the motion. Then he met Tokoyami's eyes. "Ah— sorry."

Dorada delivered a series of chirps. Tokoyami waited until she was done before he did anything else... all while his temper boiled dangerously. Then, with Dark Shadow bristling at his back, making him feel ironically like the 'boss' Bakugo had suggested he be... Tokoyami used his most threatening voice.

His words carried so the two misbehaved test failures could hear, too. "Now then... what did Dorada say?"

From beside Tokoyami, at his elbow, and sharing a plate of pastry, All Might began to translate for him. "She said—"

A cough interrupted from Tokoyami's left... where Midoriya sat, too, a table away. "Dorada- _san,"_ Midoriya corrected.

His concerned, well-meaning look came with a helpful flapping motion of hands.

Tokoyami closed his eyes. Midoriya wasn't wrong. It was just that... Tokoyami felt so strained. So strained, having four other people with him on his special date. He tried again, slowly, gently. "All Might... what did Dorada-san say?"

All Might glanced between Dorada and the booth that housed Bakugo and Todoroki. "It's slightly difficult to— well. There seems to be a lot of slang and language I am unfamiliar with. D-Dorada-shoujo seems to say, however, that she... she 'ships it.'" He laughed.

"I beg your pardon," said Tokoyami. Embrace the soothing calmness of the darkness; _become_ the dark, he told himself. Doubt not its comforting shroud. Fear nothing.

A hand came up to scratch his hair, as All Might half-bowed an apology. "She appears to be a fan of Bakugo-shounen reduced to submissiveness especially." The retired Hero glanced again at where Bakugo and Todoroki still struggled — although silently, now — with each other's limbs.

A pause passed. Tokoyami asked himself whether All Might might have perhaps translated Dorada's words wrong. Then he felt his hold on himself waver. Why, _why_ didmatters of boys with boys kept coming up, why had Hakagure been right that women seemed to fall for things like that? What was Tokoyami supposed to do? Accept with grace that the girl of his dreams might only be tempted to become interested in him if he developed the same preferences as Todoroki? Or at least the ability to _fake_ having them, like Bakugo apparently knew how to?

Bakugo shoved Todoroki away. "I'm outta here. This shit's too gay."

"I'm... actually bisexual... and I wasn't hitting on you. Uh— that is, I was physically _hitting_ you, but..." Todoroki lifted his hands away.

Tokoyami twitched. No — he absolutely couldn't mimic or learn anything whatsoever from those two.

"You can't go!" Midoriya hissed. He seemed torn between glancing at Tokoyami and rising to halt Bakugo. He wiped the sweat from his temple. "Deal with the jokes and get back here! _You_ were the one making them a while back, weren't you? So... just _take it_ now, Kacchan!"

Behind him, Tokoyami sensed Dark Shadow stuffing his face into his wing. Dark Shadow must be very tired of the joking by now, too.

" _Take_ it, you tell me? Oh, _fuck y—_ "

"B-Bakugo-shounen, Midoriya-shounen," All Might interfered, with the most strained smile Tokoyami had ever seen cross his features. "This isn't becoming of you."

Dorada just tucked her hands in her armpits. Then she flapped her elbows like a pair of wings, in a way that — to Tokoyami's horror — seemed enthusiastic about wanting Bakugo to stay. After that, she pushed her smoothie aside while watching the proceedings with her beady eyes, flapping her arms again. _Cheep, cheep._

That was a giggle, Tokoyami decided. But not thanks to anything _he'd_ said or done. This wasn't going well at all.

"You know that this is _serious—"_ Midoriya still scolded Bakugo, "—even if you can't be the one in charge any more because you failed your provisional license exam!" Bakugo's eyes flashed, murderous. Midoriya's speech sped up; he was borderline muttering. "All Might isn't technically a pro Hero any more, so it's dubious whether I can really say I'm acting to support his efforts or in conjunction with him like the license rules specify... but we've still made the decision, Kacchan. As a licensed provisional now myself, I—"

"Shut _up_ , you shitty nerd! Just die!"

Midoriya went on, stone-faced, holding his head a little bit higher. "I have taken approved and legal control of this situation with my authority as provisional Hero. As unfair as you think it is, you and Todoroki-kun don't have the same ability! Just guard the doors without a scene! We already sent Iida-kun and Kirishima-kun ahead, so..." Midoriya was on his feet, one hand on his table, one half-reaching for Bakugo — strung out like a clothesline under stress. Tokoyami felt like he could relate to the clothesline bit; certainly Dark Shadow might have liked to clothesline Bakugo. "We're going to _wait_ for them to get back with the rest of Class A and then take things from there. D-don't make me repeat myself if you don't like listening to it! You heard the first time, didn't you?! This isn't far from where the riot occurred, and I don't—"

"Yeah, you don't want the Villains to _blah, blah!_ Deku... Think I don't fucking _know_ this tactical shit? Die! Explode! I'm better at _all life_ than you, license in my pocket or not! So don't you DARE fucking look down on me..." Bakugo snarled, while Midoriya only looked haggard and pained. "If some Villains come, bring it on! 'S better than sitting here watching Bird Brain get all _kissy,_ isn't it?"

Tokoyami flinched. He wasn't 'kissy.' Nothing about this was kissy. How dare Bakugo suggest it might be so... when birds with bird beaks couldn't kiss each other.

This was an uncalled for blow to his emotion.

" _Shall I get revenge on him somehow, finally?"_ Dark Shadow murmured gleefully. _"I think if I force him back next to the hot and cold boy, he'll explode with embarrassment. And that's something I'd like to see..."_

Tokoyami wouldn't have minded seeing it either, but he summoned propriety. He told Dark Shadow, "There's no need to further expose Todoroki to such a thing. He doesn't deserve it."

" _You like the peppermint stick one more than you let on, don't you? Is it thanks to his flattery over your new look?"_

Tokoyami didn't respond; he knew he probably wouldn't be heard over Bakugo still growling.

"Better, too, than just letting Icy-Hot frisk me!"

Todoroki turned bright red. "That... wasn't what I was doing..."

"AaaAHH? Could've fucking FOOLED ME!"

"Boys," said All Might, making a downward-pressing motion with both hands. "If you could please refrain from—"

"Bakugo," said Todoroki seriously, with a partial gleam of challenge in his stare. The stare only broke to look apologetically once back at All Might. "If you were 'letting' me," he said dryly, "then does that mean you secretly wanted me to?"

A period of silence passed — interrupted only when Midoriya dropped his face into his hand. "Oh, Todoroki-kun... _Don't._ "

Bakugo grinned maniacally. "Too late, fucking nerd. It's over. Guess Bird Brain's date will have to wait until I blast the shit out of Snowman!"

"K-Kacchan!"

Todoroki tensed.

Tokoyami just did his best to calm himself while hell broke loose.

Bakugo launched himself at Todoroki. Todoroki put his arms up. Midoriya darted in and tried to block Bakugo from the front. He only succeeded in being bowled over... and pulling Bakugo down to the floor with him. Tokoyami asked himself if it was worth looking on any more, never mind interfering... which he had already decided would be no good.

 _They_ all might dismiss his date as less important than their pride or their juvenile misunderstandings. But Dorada still sat across from him, and he still had his translator.

Tokoyami was a prince of darkness. He was not going to let a brawl interrupt. Calmly, he said, "Dorada-san."

But she didn't turn. She seemed glued to the scene the other boys put on — the shouts of _Kacchan!_ The way Todoroki pinned Bakugo smartly to the floor on his back... despite that Bakugo had fallen onto Midoriya first, trapping him. The waitress stepped over them with nothing but a indulgent smile and a _Please clear the aisle once you're done_. All Might rose, leaving and taking his translations with him, rushing into the fray with a laugh that sounded a touch furious, unraveled... and then All Might simply coughed blood, trying to haul the three students apart. Dorada stared at Todoroki's raised behind, Bakugo's heaving chest and parted lips, and Midoriya's spreading flush.

How could this be? Had all been lost?

Dark Shadow opened his beak and hissed. Tokoyami silently reigned his Quirk in. He was _better_ than this. He needed to be. He needed to be better than those on the floor.

He would not crack and show his own temper, and paint himself to be someone that Dorada might find fault with. He also refused to join the pile on the floor in any attempt to cut the display short — lest he become awkwardly sexualized and objectified similarly to the others. Even if Dorada might enjoy that... Tokoyami knew he wouldn't.

Surely he couldn't be expected to compromise himself that much, even to win the heart of a beautiful woman?

If Dorada was going to be attracted to him, it wasn't going to be for shameless, shallow, lewd reasons. Tokoyami had decided.

That, and Midoriya was right, too; this situation couldn't last. Surely someone would find them here, whether it was Villains, police who wanted to question him, or the rest of Class A coming to join them. Tokoyami hardly had time to make use of his short opportunity here — to enjoy the part of being with Dorada that was a date designed to get to know her... and not a cold, heartless, clinical assessment of her affect upon his Quirk.

He needed to make use of these brief, happy moments. No more distractions. No more messing around.

"Dorada-san... I am greatly enjoying your company." He reached over to lift the porcelain teapot at their table edge, catching Dorada's beady eyes at last and posing the question, "Some tea, madame?"

 _Cheep, cheep cheep. Chirpitty chirp, cheep!_

Tokoyami swallowed. Her eyes... her eyes were so pretty and black. He had never seen anybody's eyes hold such equal combinations of darkness and light. The affect... It dazzled him.

But he had no idea what her chirps meant to say.

He tried to converse anyway, resting his chin on his hand in his attempt to appear more lordly and charming. "You're right. I think the millet on the muffins is delicious, too."

But Dorada hadn't eaten anything yet — only appeared to lean downward and smell. She hadn't touched her smoothie, either. Barely even glanced at the tea. Was she not enjoying herself?

 _CHEEP! Chirpitty cheep, tweet, cheep!_

Again, she flapped her wings. Ah— that was, her _arms_. And then she gestured in a more human way.

Tokoyami watched Dorada pointing, determined to make some sense of it. _Muffins._ And then she pointed at the brawl happening on the floor. Her chest shook; she burbled something he decided might be another laugh. Or was it a growl? What could it possibly be? For some reason her eyebrow feathers drew downward.

"Yes," he said, over the sound of All Might practically drowning inside his own cough-blood, now, "it's wonderful to have friends and eat together, isn't it? I was wondering, actually, if you wouldn't mind doing this again sometime. It would be nice to get to know you a little better, perhaps under different circumstances—"

" _I think—"_ Dark Shadow cleared his throat. " _I think— Fumikage... I could swear she's as bad as the rest of them. I think she's maybe trying to say something inappropriate, not whatever it is you've gleaned."_

"Don't be silly," Tokoyami replied. The shroud of darkness... it would keep him cool. Sane. The niggling barb that drove into his confidence would be defeated by the vibrant black power that charged his soul, his being. "Someone like Dorada-san would never stoop to that level."

"Die! Or cough somewhere else, All Might — I don't want to see any blood unless it's Half-and-Half Bastard's or Deku's!"

"Kacchan— _ow_ , Kacchan, you're still on my thigh—"

"Admit your defeat, Bakugo — or I will hit you with frostbite."

The employees of the café finally seemed exasperated. The waitress picked up a phone.

Dorada's glance took it all in. Then, again, she pointed at the muffin.

She pointed to the café's back, jabbing smartly with her finger. Tokoyami tried to understand. She wanted him to look toward where all the baking was done in the kitchen? He stared at her motions, sweating.

She mimed fanning a fire close to the muffin. Definitely baking, thought Tokoyami. An oven?

Suddenly the game was Charades. He could play it. He had to.

"Baking," he guessed. "Putting things in the oven, making everything hot." Then he stopped. He thought about that image a moment.

She pointed to the boys all tangled in a threesome on the floor. Then — very slowly, when Tokoyami didn't react or move — she inserted her forefinger into a ring she depicted with the forefinger and thumb of her opposite—

Dark Shadow's wings filled his vision, cutting the imagery off. " _I was right. It's dirty. Please don't look."_

"This..." Tokoyami felt darkness bubble inside him, and this time it felt very bad. The thing about relying on darkness was... Well. As much as it calmed him, it also brimmed with danger, with the threat of blindness. He had to control his temper, he had to. "This is turning into my worst nightmare."

He spoke into the shadow mass of his Quirk — and didn't care if Dorada heard the words. He simply didn't understand. How could someone so pure-looking, so full of such golden light and laughter... How could someone like Dorada have such an offensive sense of humor? Didn't she know it humiliated him, and made him feel like he wasn't engaging enough to entertain her on his own? Didn't she even like the food and drink they had ordered? Why wasn't she drinking tea? Tokoyami had looked forward to seeing her bend picturesquely to dip her beak down into it...

He pushed Dark Shadow's wings aside. Dorada gazed at him expectantly now, though the brawl on the floor carried on.

At least now she was giving him her attention. Why did she look a little tense? Uncertain?

Tokoyami decided to be cautious. He could try this one more time. He could _try_ to reach out to the girl of his dreams, to connect to someone who might understand him.

He picked up a plate laden with lacey-looking, snowflake slices of cookies, powdered with sugar and coated with seeds. "I heard this is the café's best. Would you please do me the honor of trying it?"

He bowed his head, to implore her. As he did so... a flake or two of glitter drifted off his feathers and into her tea. Tokoyami stared, mortified.

Dorada stared for a time, too. Then, without any warning, she slammed her beak into the offered plate — sending the plate back onto the table and cracking the plate in half.

The crash stopped the brawl on the floor. Everyone looked over at him.

Then Dorada continued to bang her beak down onto the table. _Slam, slam._

The cookies disintegrated. And she didn't appear to be eating them despite shoving her face in them. _Slam, slam._ Her face came down like a hammer, spewing the crumbs and the seeds everywhere.

Wild chirping followed. _Slam, slam._

" _You made her angry,"_ Dark Shadow announced. And needlessly, damn it all. Tokoyami could _see_ very clearly that yes, by now, Dorada seemed distressed. _"This isn't what I wanted at all. Not for you, and not for me... How can we connect to someone this way? She's acting like a barbarian!"_

 _Slam._

This wasn't even close to a date, Tokoyami decided. Maybe Dorada thought so too, now. Maybe the charm he had tried to turn on had gone a bit too far, too fast. Was that why Dorada seemed angry right now? It was too early in his relationship with her to know what they might be to each other; maybe Tokoyami's behavior had made him seem too desperate or too hopeful, only turning Dorada off. Maybe Dorada wished to leave, but felt she couldn't, thanks to how his group had coerced and manhandled her earlier... so instead she sat resignedly through this, and only made terrible jokes about gay sex she knew would help her get revenge by driving Tokoyami mad. _Or_ maybe she had been trying to convey that, if anything, she was more likely to strike up a friendship or relationship with one of the other three boys on the floor, before she would ever humor Tokoyami after the way all this had proceeded. Perhaps Tokoyami wasn't her type. Perhaps, even with his makeover, she didn't like other people with bird heads. Perhaps she would have preferred his first makeover style with the Crocs and the polo shirt.

No matter what her reasoning, the blaring truth... was that she didn't feel at all toward Tokoyami like he did toward her. She probably wasn't even curious to get to know him as a friend. Tokoyami felt sick to his stomach. Dark Shadow trembled.

They had failed.

She continued to slam her beak on the table. She bent from the waist each time, body stiff.

 _Wham._

Her fists pounded the table afterward. _Cheep!_

All Might, Todoroki, and Midoriya stared. Bakugo sat up and patted himself off. Dark Shadow whimpered at Tokoyami's back.

Tokoyami opened his mouth to say something, wondering how to fix the situation. The best thing would probably be to set Dorada free from here. He was the person responsible for her fit.

And for stopping it and returning her happiness. What else could he try to do now but that?

A footstep sounded behind him, audible thanks to the silence that reigned. A voice from the same place said, "Wow, what kind of fun did _we_ just walk in on?"

Tokoyami began to turn, but ultimately stopped himself. He wasn't sure that he should take his eyes off Dorada just yet.

She had stopped slamming the tabletop, but—

"Kinda wild, don't you think? N-no — don't get involved or interfere! Didn't we just come in here for caffeine?"

The voice sounded like two different people, the way its cadence and tone changed — rose and dropped. Who on earth—?

Tokoyami saw Midoriya's face. Midoriya's expression washed completely pale. Midoriya could see whoever stood behind Tokoyami clearly.

 _Impossible_ , thought Tokoyami. If Midoriya looked like that, then... Villains? In this unpopular, nearly-empty café tucked away off the street? So incredibly soon?

 _Someone_ had come in from the venue's back door — the one they _hadn't_ been watching because it would have meant getting underfoot of the staff. Had that been a terrible oversight?

The door in front that Todoroki and Bakugo had been responsible for watching jingled. Now someone else came in... boxing in Tokoyami's group from both sides. "Ooh, Twice — you beat me here? You snuck yourself in from the back?"

Tokoyami recognized the blond school girl who skipped inside. His class had fought with her before, deep in the woods at training camp.

The League of Villains. They had come.

"Toga, my lovely ducky," said the strange voice again behind Tokoyami. "I think we have a situation, here — a sticky one, if you know what I mean from the hormone-laden looks of it."

While Midoriya slowly stretched for his back pocket to try to reach his cell phone, Toga strained on her tip toes to see up over the tables, to the sprawl of boys on the floor... that now included a passed-out All Might. She stopped when she caught Tokoyami's gaze.

She grinned, incredibly slowly, and Tokoyami shivered.

 _Impossible,_ he thought. Why here, why now? He had barely begun to correct his mistakes with the girl he had fought here for.

Dorada shivered too — frozen to her chair.

"The kid that Shigaraki hates is here," continued the so-called Twice, "plus the one we captured who got away... and I dunno, half the hit list is all over each other on the floor. It's not really what I expected— oh, hey. And All Might is here, too. Huh. Shit." Again, Twice's voice soared without any warning. "We're fucked! Even if he's retired and asleep right now... let's get the hell out of here!"

Midoriya's face now showed shock, horror, and realization that he might be staring all their deaths in the face... and that he alone was responsible now for preventing such a scenario thanks to his position as their group leader. He glanced at Tokoyami. Tokoyami swallowed and nodded.

As the only other provisional license holder approved to act in such a situation... he would of course lend his support.

Bakugo climbed off the floor, beginning to grin like Toga. Midoriya sprang up, too, his cell phone still gripped behind his back, his fingers pressing different keys.

All Might remained on the floor.

All Might might well be killed down there, snuffed out as easily as a candle, unable to fight at all. The realization made Tokoyami cold.

If All Might died, it would be all of their faults. As students of Class A... they should have known better than to work the man to such a state of distress that he could not go on. Even Tokoyami should have thought twice, and not taken the retired Hero's resilience for granted. All Might was the weakest now he'd ever been... And was a girl— was even the pursuit of controlling his Quirk as important as the safety and integrity of Hero society? If Villains took out the retired Symbol of Peace, then the already tenuous morale of their world...

The café employees assessed the situation, dropped their silverware, and began making as if to flee. Their lives depended on leaving. They'd seen the news.

They knew they might end up dead, too. But was it far too late, now, for them to escape?

Tokoyami silently drew Dark Shadow closer to him to prepare for a fight. He thought so hard he started to sweat. Perhaps there was still a chance for the employees to flee. He and Midoriya could make an opening for them, even if at the expense of themselves. That was what a pro Hero would do. Or...

Or maybe, Tokoyami thought, they wouldn't have to concern themselves with helping people flee at all.

These particular Villains — or at least the schoolgirl, Toga, he knew — worshipped Stain's ideologies. Hero Killer Stain had been concerned with ending _Heroes_ , not innocent bystanders. Or at least, not deliberately.

As if in acknowledgement of that very point, Toga let the bystanders go when they wailed and appeared to look for a path out.

She held open the door for them, snickering — as if to say to the UA students, _To think you were about to start a fight without accounting for these poor people first! This is why Heroes have gotten corrupt_.

While she let the employees leave, Todoroki staggered up — the last one of the three on the floor to take his feet. He lit the flames on his left hand, but didn't flare them brightly enough to call attention to himself.

So that was how this would be? Tokoyami's breath came quickly. Todoroki, who had failed the license exam and was not cleared to fight in public with his Quirk... He would do so anyway, risking his future career in the process? Could Tokoyami allow that?

And if Todoroki broke the rules... then surely Bakugo would as well. That Bakugo would do whatever pleased _himself_ practically went without saying. Was it Tokoyami's responsibility — Midoriya's — to stop them?

He exchanged a glance with Midoriya. Midoriya stood sweating, too. But certainly he knew what Tokoyami did.

With four of them, questionable as it might be... With four of them, and all of them rather strong, they might be able to do this.

Toga flushed and wriggled once the door had jingled closed again. "Izuku!" She licked her lips.

Tokoyami did not remove his eyes from her, despite knowing another Villain hovered somewhere behind him. He didn't need to care about that one just yet.

Dark Shadow would watch his back.

"Izuku's here, he really is! And now we're basically alone... Twice, you're the coolest for picking this place to meet up!"

"Do I have to be jealous of this green kid, now?" Twice sounded hurt. "You're giving him googly-eyes..."

Toga bared her teeth and crouched to lunge. "Nah. I just want to see his blood!"

Midoriya took a step back. Green lightning zipped around his shoes.

"Wait— so we're fighting?" Twice appeared to be the slowest person in the room to react. Tokoyami could see him now; he'd come around the table into Tokoyami's peripherals. He wore a skin-tight suit that covered him from head to toe, like a comic book hero from America. "Sweet. Then I can kick some ass. No, no — I'm too scared of these slippery kids!"

"If you're going to fight," Midoriya said to them, "I won't let you hurt any—"

A trail of blue fire licked its way to surround the tables, cutting off Midoriya's warning.

Tokoyami felt everything go hot, then cold, then deathly still as a third person joined the fray — the Villain from the League known only as 'Dabi.'

"Well, well." Scars, stitches, and humorless smile prevailed as Dabi ducked onto the scene. He gave his fellow Villains a once-over. "I guess it was useful to follow you two to make sure you didn't goof off. And I came in time to help get things started." His eyes scanned the room and settled on one person. "Have a ball then, Toga, Twice... but please leave Todoroki Shoto to me." The room exploded in blue flames — mostly close to Todoroki.

There would be no way out at all now but to fight around the blaze.

Toga dove around Dabi's flame display, giggling wildly. "Izukuuuuu!"

Bakugo shoved All Might's limp body into a booth, then crouched in front of it to block, one finger on a grenade pin.

Tokoyami leapt up. "Black Ankh!"

The next few seconds were chaos. Midoriya zipped around the room. Bakugo's explosions deafened everyone, char-blackening everything, choking people with smoke. Todoroki's ice crackled, and dripped wherever it came against fire. Toga kept squealing, slashing out with knives... Dabi's eyes flashed now and then behind his blue fire, forbidding and grim.

But what about the one called Twice? Where had he—

"I'm over here. By the way, I'm really digging your look."

Tokoyami took a hit that sent him skidding on the floor. He winced when his head cracked against a table, and the bowled-over chairs clattered atop his lap. Everything felt woozy. He blinked twice to clear his vision, struggling to stand.

And then he realized he had taken the hit because Dark Shadow hadn't been there to cover him.

Hadn't Tokoyami just engaged his newest move, Blank Ankh?

He stumbled up and saw Dark Shadow cradling Dorada in his wings. The sentient Quirk glared at Tokoyami — panicked and disbelieving. _"How could you jump into battle without protecting her first?!"_

Tokoyami staggered, one hand rising to touch his throbbing head. "I-I..."

But Dark Shadow was right. What the hell had Tokoyami been _thinking_? Once the adrenaline rush had flooded in, in response to his fear and his instinct...

He'd been thinking in the wrong way. He'd reacted out of habit, launching himself straight into the fight with his classmates — like he had so many times before. His training had taken over. But this wasn't a situation like the situations he had been in before.

This time, there weren't just Villains and classmates. This time there was a lovely, special canary girl he was responsible for.

No wonder Dark Shadow had ignored his intent.

"Dark Shadow is right!" Midoriya called. He landed a fierce kick to Twice — who now seemed to be everywhere. The Twice came right back toward Tokoyami. "You have to protect Dorada-san! She's important to you, and for managing your Quirk... Get her out of here, Tokoyami-kun!"

A new explosion sounded from next to the booths. Bakugo yelled at the top of his lungs... and Todoroki backed him up.

Dabi was trying to encase them both — and All Might's limp form — in a blanket of fire.

Tokoyami looked between his struggling classmates, and Dorada shivering in Dark Shadow's hold. He knew he should rescue the girl. But he didn't want to leave his classmates alone.

No, not his classmates. His _friends._

As annoying as they all were, they kept him from being alone. If Tokoyami left them now, they might get captured. Or might die. And then he'd be alone again.

Alone, and responsible for their demise.

He didn't think he could live, knowing that. Wasn't... wasn't there a way to secure Dorada's safety here, so that he didn't have to retreat from the fight completely?

He dodged another hit from Twice. Dark Shadow lashed at the Villain with his beak. But Dark Shadow was weak from staying out in the light these past days, from never resting inside Tokoyami... and the Quirk was weighed down by a physical burden now, unable to fight well with a vulnerable civilian protected in his wings. Tokoyami didn't know what to do.

"I..."

A burst of flames cut their way into his path. But this time, the flames weren't blue.

Todoroki Shoto rocketed out of the blaze, catching Tokoyami's arm and sealing them fast behind a great ice-wall. "Don't..." Todoroki breathed hard. He winced when his ice began to melt immediately.

Dabi chuckled on the other side of the wall. "What a shame, Todoroki..."

"Don't make the mistake I did." Todoroki said breathlessly.

Tokoyami's reply caught in his throat.

Todoroki looked him straight in the eyes. "Bakugo and I failed the provisional license exam because we didn't properly prioritize the rescue of bystanders above our own egos, or above our desires to fight. Do as Midoriya says — take the girl you have feelings for out of here and rescue her!"

Tokoyami realized they had come up against the kitchen door. And surely the kitchen led to the back exit. If Tokoyami and Dark Shadow carried Dorada out from here, they might have a chance to make a break for it before any of the Villains could catch up.

Not that they'd bother to catch up, would they? Tokoyami had been targeted by the League before, but he suspected he wasn't at the top of their hit list.

It was far more likely the Villains would stay here and try to finish off Tokoyami's friends.

Dabi's voice leaked through Todoroki's wall. "You're so warm-hearted sometimes, littlest Todoroki — dear _Shoto_ — for someone who's also so cold... It's a shame you haven't developed well under the number two Hero! Whoops... number _one_ now... Isn't that so depressing, too..."

Todoroki gritted his teeth. "Endeavor... has nothing to do with me finishing you, Dabi..."

Tokoyami's heart thundered. Dark Shadow sobbed, Dorada chirped.

Todoroki gave Tokoyami a shove. "We won't go down easily. Go!"

After a beat, in which Tokoyami's chest felt like it would collapse... he ran.

Dark Shadow flanked him through the kitchen. They burst through the back door and into the street. As expected, none of the Villians came in pursuit. They must know already they were short on time, and that even if Tokoyami left and called for help, it would make no difference in what they had to do. A new explosion sounded from the café; Bakugo's Quirk was announcing the presence of a conflict to the entire area.

But still, the Villains were going to try to quash the UA students and murder All Might — as fast as they could.

" _Where should we go now?"_ Dark Shadow asked, shrill.

"If we could just find the others..." Tokoyami raked back his head feathers. He didn't care any more if he messed up their styling or the remains of his glitter. The tight black jeans he wore had already been singed by blue fire, his shoulder bled from where a chair had scraped it, and the tattoo design on his thigh had smudged off.

This wasn't about his makeover any more. It wasn't about trying to relate to someone else with a bird head. Now it was about self-preservation and the preservation of the two left with him.

"Dark Shadow, Dorada-san, let's—"

Dorada cheeped dramatically, then pointed up toward the rooftops.

Down from the buildings streamed figures. A slew of them — heading right toward the café.

At first, Tokoyami thought they'd be finished, despite having fled to the street. But then he realized _who_ was coming toward them.

He gaped. "The teachers who were in our group's rear guard?" And a few of the other pro Heroes.

" _But what took them so long?"_ Dark Shadow asked, hugging Dorada to his chest. Tokoyami silently agreed with the sentiment, watching them come near in streams. Ectoplasm, Edgeshot, Vlad King, Mount Lady, Kamui Woods... a host of others.

But if they'd been there all along, the way Midoriya and the rest had all suspected... then why only come out of hiding now? Was it really because—

Tokoyami jerked; someone seized his upper arm.

"Kero! It's only me, kero!" Asui Tsuyu ducked Tokoyami's knee-jerk, instant strike at her.

He halted, gaping. "Asui-san..."

"Call me Tsuyu-chan." She looked as if she had hopped a long ways; her hair hung partially out of its neat bow tie. "Are you all right? We got a text from Midoriya-chan, and before that, the class president came to find the other groups with Kirishima-chan, so we all came running to your location!"

People streamed in from the streets now, too. Tokoyami recognized most of the rest of Class 1-A.

And all of them seemed fired up.

Uraraka yelled something about rushing in head on to help Deku. Kirishima's arms already looked hard. Ashido's acid streamed out of her hands. Electricity zipped from Kaminari, and sound waves thundered from Jiro. Yaoyorozu pulled a bazooka from her chest. Even Mineta already hurled sticky balls.

" _You can't go in,"_ Dark Shadow cried to them. " _The League of Villains is in there! We barely escaped ourselves."_

Dark Shadow had a point. But maybe now, Tokoyami thought, maybe with _all_ of them... Maybe now they would stand a chance against Dabi, Toga, and Twice. As a team, maybe they could—

Tokoyami got grabbed by the arm again.

When he turned around, Eraser Head held him back — and urgently. "I hate to say this," he uttered, "but this situation isn't quite what it seems. Tokoyami... you and the girl you like... You were our bait," the teacher said. "And we need you again right now — before all this gets any worse."

Shouts and calls raged all around him. Tokoyami blinked at Aizawa for a long moment, uncomprehending of what he'd been told. The windows in the café smashed as blue fire shot out... and pro Heroes pressed in.

Dark Shadow trembled, nervous. And Dorada — when Tokoyami looked again — had somehow begun fading in Dark Shadow's arms.

Fading. He looked again. _Fading?_

Like she was a hologram. Made of nothing. Dorada was turning slowly see-through in degrees — slowly invisible, almost like Hakagure.

Something had gone wrong with her. Sections of her edges flaked away too, like she was only a crumbling drawing. Her eyes weren't open anymore, and her beak hung open weakly.

"Don't panic," Aizawa said in Tokoyami's ear — the moment Tokoyami began to struggle. "Just come with me and I'll explain. Asui — you too. Leave the rest to those who are already here."

Asui looked between Aizawa and the blazing café that held her friends. "Kero?!"

Tokoyami felt faint. He swayed. He agreed with Asui's hesitance. How could this...? What was _happening_?

He planted his feet so Aizawa couldn't drag him away. His voice dipped low and dangerous. "You used Group C and Dorada as bait to lure out the League of Villains?"

He'd suspected — during their fight to the alleyway after Dark Shadow's bird call — that something about their situation was off.

He shouldn't have assumed he could ignore it so long.

From the way the rear guard didn't come right away, to the way All Might had avoided the police... The teachers had plotted something from the start. Tokoyami had entertained the idea that had been posed — that they might be set up as bait.

But he'd never truly _believed_ that if it were the truth, it would mean letting someone get harmed. Not deep down in his heart. How could he? Didn't UA know better than that? Wasn't UA supposed to _protect_ its students?

And if Tokoyami left now, his friends might not be well enough protected. Maybe it was arrogant to think there was anything he could still do, but—

"Are you even really my teacher right now," he asked, his emotions, his beliefs in everything tangled, "or are you a Villain trying to trick me? How could you suggest I leave here for the sake of being bait, when my friends are inside that café... taking hits now as another kind of bait while the pros force their way inside?" What choice should Tokoyami make? Could he trust what was in front of him? If he and Asui were caught alone with a Villain right now...

Aizawa shut his eyes and sighed. Then he looked at Tokoyami.

He looked at Tokoyami... and he didn't blink at all. His hair stood up on end. It floated. A second later, Dark Shadow screamed and disappeared into nothing.

Dark Shadow winked out of existence, erased by Eraser Head's Quirk.

Aizawa caught Dorada princess-style as she fell, no longer with Dark Shadow's wings to support her. Tokoyami staggered a step backward, shocked so hard he could not speak.

His teacher's face looked regretful. "That was the fastest way to convince you it's me." When Tokoyami said nothing, he went on. "It's not that other people who might impersonate me wouldn't necessarily be able to mimic or use my Quirk too. It's that if they were pretending to be me, they would most likely assume that because I'm a teacher, I wouldn't try to prove my authenticity to you by using my Quirk against you, a scared student. But I'm your homeroom teacher, Tokoyami. _You_ know my ethics and my methods best... and you know I'm brutal when I need to be." He blinked, finally releasing his Quirk.

But Dark Shadow didn't come back.

It would take Dark Shadow a minute or more to wake up from the dead again. To erase Dark Shadow... at a time like this...

Tokoyami placed a hand on his head, feeling like the world was breaking. It was true that only Aizawa would pick such a harsh method of proving he wasn't a Villain, but if things were now really as bad as Aizawa said... Didn't it create more liability, putting Tokoyami in a temporary position where he couldn't access Dark Shadow or rely on Dark Shadow to fight?

Or maybe not.

Tokoyami thought again. Maybe now Dark Shadow could _rest_. He could reset... and come back stronger when Tokoyami called upon him again. Being erased was like dying for Dark Shadow... but when he came back, he was reborn. Reborn and refreshed.

That was a perk in this case. All of the weakness that had built up in them both since Dark Shadow had refused to follow orders or go away would be fixed now by the time he came back.

Probably. It wasn't like Tokoyami had had a chance to explore this aspect of his Quirk before this.

He moved closer to Asui, who appeared shocked now as well. But he gave Aizawa an acknowledging nod.

The teacher cradled Dorada to his chest. "This was a situation we couldn't help. And this girl... she's only the manifestation of a Quirk — a Quirk belonging to someone the school has been trying to find. From the looks of it, her _real_ form is in trouble somewhere."

"Her real form?" Tokoyami followed Aizawa away from the café. Dorada wasn't... what she appeared to be?

"There's an indoor pool house we'll have to cut through..."

Asui ribbited again, seeming to make sense finally of why she had been asked to tag along.

Aizawa snapped on his goggles and turned. "We had better hurry, if you want to save her."

* * *

 **Author Note:** _Sorry for the delay on this one, but no one told me they were chomping at the bit, so… XD_

 _Writing some villains was extremely fun! Twice was difficult for me, though. Although I am fully caught up to the manga and thus have seen a lot of him (and adore him), characters don't solidify enough for me to write confidently until I can HEAR them – and Twice has barely been in the anime yet for me to hear. XDDD_


End file.
